Persona: Death Descends
by Mr.Arkham
Summary: Souji Seta returns to Inaba, but trouble once again follows behind him when another Persona-wielding leader returns from a rather more extensive abscence. P4/P3 Crossover
1. Homecoming

"Man, life is good..."

Yosuke let out a content sigh, surveying the various Junes isles before him. At 27 years of age, he was the stock manager for the Junes of Inaba. Some would say he wasn't ambitious, and that's what landed him such a job, but Yosuke was happy enough. He had a decent pay, there were plenty of promotion opportunities and he was never too far from friends and family. He might never go jetting around like Rise or Souji did, but hell he wouldn;t trade this idyllic life for anything.

He paused a moment, feeling a buzzing in his coat pocket shortly followed by a polyphonic version of _Burn My Dread_. God damn Yosuke just loved that ring tone.

Without even checking to see who was calling, Yosuke placed the phone to his ear and answered "Hey, Yosuke here. What's up?". The voice that replied was calm, familiar and always good to hear "Yosuke-san, how long has it been bro?". Yosuke cracked a smile, his spirits elevating even further "Holy crap, Souji is that you? What's up man?" Yosuke replied, evidently ecstatic. "Ah, not much man. Just got back from a meeting with my publisher, guy wants to know when I'll have my newest book done...". Souji had become a relatively famous horror/mystery author when he finished in college. Of course, most people were unaware that alot of the elements in his books came from the murder mystery he and his friends solved one faithful year.

"But to be honest man, I have been kind of busy lately. Moving to a new place and all..." Souji continued, causing Yosuke to arch an eyebrow from his end of the phone. "Moving? Where're you moving to partner?" Yosuke asked, earning a small laugh from Souji "Oh I dunno'...Heard about one great little town called Inaba, thinking about settling down there, maybe". Yosuke's jaw almost dropped through the floor "H-holy shit, seriously? That's awesome man! Oh man, I can't wait to te-".

Souji promptly silenced his best friend before he finished his sentence "Slow down there Yosuke...I want this to be a surprise to the others. Listen, I'll be in town in the next two days. Get Nanako and Doujima-san, and the others down to the Amagi Inn for that day, but don;t tell them anything. Okay?". Yosuke gave a laugh "Sure thing partner, you know you can depend on me". Souji cleared his throat, sounding somewhat more nervous for some reason"Hey uh...Is Ris-" Yosuke cut him off this time, laughing slightly "Don't worry man, your favourite idol is taking some R & R here in rustic, peaceful Inaba. Don't worry, she'll be there, trust me".

The two old friends passed the time with small talk, and about news from Inaba, before Souji said his goodbye. He had a train to catch, and the service wasn't going to wait for him. Before Yosuke could pause to enjoy this new developement, a familiar voice called out from behind him "Hey Yosuke, who were you talkin' to? You seemed pretty happy".

Turning, Yosuke saw the familiar face fo Teddie who was Junes' resident mascot and odd-job man. Most people sweared that he hadn't aged a day, only looking and acting slightly more mature over the course of 10 years. Then again, he was a Shadow that took the form of a human. Maybe he wouldn't age at all, or maybe he just aged really slowly. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing, just get back to work dude". Teddie gave one of his signature puppy-dog looks that he often gave when something confused him "But my shift ended half an hour ago!".

Yosuke looked down at his boots, feeling embarassed now "Oh, uh, right sorry. Just, I dunno go wait forme at Aiya's, I just gotta' clock out and I'll meet you there". Teddie nodded, and made his way out of the massive store. Yosuke sighed happily, now that he had gotten off the hook. He had a good job, good pay and now his best damn friend in the whole wide world was returning to Inaba.

"Man, life is good...".

_Meanwhile, outside the bounds of time, space and reality itself._

Walking through the endless abyss, it's hard to tell if you're really moving at all. Sure enough though, as Elizabeth kept walking, a white blip grew larger on the horizon. The Great Seal, she'd finally found it. Elizabeth had spent many years researching the Great Seal, Nyx and Erebus, trying to find a way to free the brave young man who saved all life with that seal. Finally, she believed she'd found a way.

The sheer silence in this place was worrying, not even the beast known as Erebus could be heard. Or seen, for that matter. Odd...

When Elizabeth was standing mere metres from the Seal, she covered her mouth in shock. This wall held the crucified visage of the quiet young man who changed the way she saw everything. It was heartrending to see such a strong, free spirit reduced to...this. She would save him from this fate, she had too. She was the only one that could.

When she reached over to touch the seal itself, she was shocked when her hand slipped in through it, as if it was made of water. _'How bizarre...It was designed to keep Erebus out, but not somebody like me...Has he been expecting me?' _Elizabeth thought to herself, finding all of this very odd. She took a deep breath, to gather her courage, and rushed straight through the seal.

She tumbled straight through, as if she had just ran through air, and tumbled out into a strange white void that directly contrasted the dark space she had just traversed. It was so bright in fact that it took her several moments before she could see anything. The first thing that actually stood out to her, was the glowing blue humanoid floating about with his back turned to her. "Ah, Elizabeth, right on time as I predicted". That was _his _voice, unmistakeable. When he turned around to her there were no real facial features that she could make out, aside from one glowing white eye with the other being covered by what looked oddly enough like a tuft of hair.

"You have a way to get me home right? 'Cause I gotta' tell you, I'm already ten years late to a reunion as it is...".

AN: Whew, one chapter down. So what do you guys think? Yes, this will be a crossover between P3 and P4, but don't hold your breath if you're expecting anything on the first two games. Haven't played them, and don't plan on anytime soon.


	2. The Miracle

Elizabeth had dropped her calm look and replaced it with one of shock and awe, a rather rare sight. The glowing blue figure however, didn't seem too intrested in her shock, he was too busy looking her over "Huh, I thought you would have aged slightly...Are residents of the Velvet Room immortal or something? Hnh, that would make sense...".

Elizabeth seemed to ignore his question altogether, suddenly shouting out "What is all this?". The blue figure shushed her, and gestured to the glowing floating, yellow figure behind him. The figure was in a foetal position, seemingly asleep, and had a whisp of yellow energy extending from his neck. A scarf? The blue individual continued "Not so loud. You'll wake Ryoji...". Elizabeth calmed herself with a deep breath "Minato?" she asked, reaching out to him. "Yup" he replied bluntly, shaking her hand "Been some time, hasn't it?".

Elizabeth paced around the strange white void, still gathering her thoughts "Yes it...It most certainly is. This is far different then I had anticipated...Minato, just, what exactly _is_ all this?". Minato seemed to smile, despite the majority of his facial features being invisible, and replied calmly "The seal, my soul, was a sort of...temporary measure to keep Erebus and Nyx away while I worked on a more permanent and effective seal. See?".

As Minato gestured upward, a massive sphere of energy became visible around Ryoji, surrounded by various mystic runes "I've spent the past 10 years working on this. It'll make for a much better seal then my mere soul...Erebus would need an entire galaxies-worth of apathy to get through now".

Elizabeth was awestruck by all this. The miracle Minato Arisato had performed 10 years ago was merely a precursor to a much grander miracle. He truly was messianic. Elizabeth was so impressed by all this, that she didn't even notice as Minato floated past her, and was only snapped out of it when he started speaking again "I'm working on the finishing touches now. I reckon in about...Two days, the new seal will be impenetrable. I trust you can dig my body up and have it waiting for me by them, right? I mean, time waits for no one, right...?"

_Meanwhile, in the world contrained by the bounds of time, space and reality..._

Two days passed by in the real world relatively quickly, two days which Yosuke spent running all around Inaba, to organise a secret reunion. Some of the more work-obsessed from the group, i.e Dojima and Naoto, were reluctant to attend something that they had no real information on, but decided to attend regardless. Yukiko had been rather confused about why Yosuke wanted to rent out a big conference room on such short notice, but decided to do a favour for a friend when he promised to reveal all to the group in two days time.

Now, as they were all sitting about inone of the Amagi Inn's conference rooms, Kanji was was the first to speak up "Uh...Yosuke-kun? What'd you bring us all here for?". He tugged on the collar of his white dress shirt uncomfortably. He hadn't been sure what he was supposed to wear for this meeting, but Naoto insisted on semi-formal semi-casual, which lead to Kanji wearing this itchy piece of crap.

"Well...You could ask me...But I think he could explain things alot better then I could" Yosuke replied coyly, gesturing to the shoji behind him, a silhouette behind it that was drawing closer. Every person present let their jaws drop in surprise, as the door slid open to reveal a familiar figure. Red leather jacket, black slacks, light brown boots, oval-shaped glasses, silver bowl cut...It could only be Souji Seta.

"Hey guys. Long time no see, eh?"


	3. Mirth and Memories

There was a rather lengthy, and somewhat awkward, silence as the former Seekers Of Truth stared at their old leader and friend. Then, Souji was struggling to keep his balance as he was swarmed by his old friends, offering him hugs and handshakes and high-fives and a whole manner of other commendations. He had changed all their lives, and he whenever he came to Inaba for a visit it was a joyous occasion for the team.

Finally, things settled back down with everyone taking their seats around the low table. Rise was practically glued to Souji's side, it had been a while since the two had last been together "So, what brings you here out of the blue Souji-kun?" she asked, giving off a shy smile. "Well" Souji began, pushing his glassed further up the bridge of his nose "I have an announcement, and I wanted you all to be the first people to know". The rest of the group, leaned forward in anticipation. "I'm moving to Inaba".

There was a small chorus of cheers from the group, all ecstatic to see their leader finally settling down in the sleepy rural town. "So, what house you movin' into senpai?" Kanji asked, sounding like a giddy musclebound child. Souji gave a small sigh "First, I'm not your senior anymore. Just call me Souji. Second, I'm not all that sure...I figured I'd rent a room here at the Inn until I find a decent house to-" "Like hell!" Rise interrupted, sounding almost offended. Souji looked down at his girlfriend, an eyebrow raised out of curiosity "Er, what?" he asked, still somewhat surprised by the stars outburst "Duh, you'll move in with me! We were talking about it last time we met, remember?".

"Oh, right" Souji replied, suddenly remembering that conversation. Rise did have a rather nice house on the outskirts of town, a perfect place to move into "You sure I won't be imposing?". Rise shook her head "'Course not. I'd hardly offer if you were...". Chie, or rather Officer Satonaka as she was known to many, gave a small salute to her old leader "Woo! Not bad Souji, soon as you announce a return you get tied down by a ball and chain. This calls for some Sake!". Yukiko, the manager in-training, nodded with a smile "I'm on it" she stood up and excused herself, heading for the Inn's cellar.

"Hehe, Sake for everyone!" Souji exclaimed. He paused a moment, and looked toward his 17 year-old cousin "'Cept for you Lil' Sis. I don't want you touching a drop of the stuff 'till you're 30". Nanako pouted toward her cousin/psuedo older sibling "Geez Big Bro, I've heard that so many times from dad, I thought you'd be more fun then that". Dojima laughed at his daughters little joke "Hey, I'm plenty fun" he said sarcastically, in-between laughs. Nanako really had grown, just under 6 feet tall now, and still with the pigtails that had grown past her shoulders. Dojima was right, she did look alot like her mother. Dojima looked...Well it was hard to describe. He looked older obviously, greyer hair and a fuller beard, but he looked happier and more energetic. Souji had really helped him change.

"I believe I'll abstain from drinking, I never could hold my liquor" Naoto remarked, tipping her hat up. _'Neither can Rise, Teddie or Yukiko incidentally' _Souji mentally quipped, remembering the incident at Port Island. "I think I'll just take a few shots" Kanji spoke, giving a soft smile toward Naoto. The two had formed a proper, if somewhat unusual, romantic relationship around 2 years ago, after Kanji's mother died from illness. Kanji fell into a pretty dark place after that, and Naoto was the one who helped drag him out of it. While Kanji started to dress smarter, with the exception of keeping his hair bleached, Naoto had also gone through some changes. As time went on her feminine features became...more pronounced, and eventually she felt no real need to hide her gender, with her past accomplishments enough to earn respect within the police department.

When Yukiko returned a short time later with the sake, there was some light drinking all around. After about 5 minutes, Teddie was going on some drunken ramble about karaoke in the hot springs. After 20, Yukiko was trying to draw a pair of joke glasses onto Teddie's face, Ted was too tipsy to really protest. After about 45 minutes, Souji was desperately trying disuade Rise from playing King's Game. All in all, it was a fun time of drinking and reminiscing between old friends...And then Dojima brought the mood down like a lead balloon.

"I've...Well, I don't want to dampen the mood or anyting but...Well, I've been talking with your mother, Souji..." Dojima began, looking over at his nephew. Souji's smile slowly faded, replaced instead with a long thin frown that scarred his face. Rise and Nanako both looked down, knowing full well what the big deal was, while the others present looked from Dojima to Souji in confusion. "I'd rather not talk about that, Dojima-san..." Souji replied bluntly, taking a small sip of sake. "They're your parents Souji, you have to talk with them at some point" Dojima replied, surprisingly calm.

"Uh...What's going on?" Chie whispered, leaning over to Nanako. "Um...Big Bro stopped talking to his parents after he started his writing career, and they've been trying to get Dad to talk some sense into him...". Chie frowned "Damn, that's heavy...Thinking back, I do remember him not being too fond of his folks". Souji hadn't heard what Chie and Nanako were talking about, rather he was more concerned with his uncle right now "My parents huh? Funny that I don't remember them doing all that much in the way of parenting...". Dojima furrowed his brow "They were busy with work Souji, they were trying to give you a good livelihood". Souji snorted and folded his arms "You were busy with work too, Dojima-san, the difference was you actually _tried _to get a break. And that livelihood of mine, was just so they could groom me into going into that goddamn family business".

"H-hey, let's all be cool here" Yosuke cut in, trying desperately to maintain the peace here "Th-this is a celebration, right? So let's just go back to celebrating". Souji sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose "Right...Yeah, you're right man. It's like, what, 10:30 now? Plenty of time to put all that unpleasantness behind us..."._  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, at the Tatsumi Port Island graveyard<em>

Elizabeth huffed deeply, heaving up the last shovel-full of dirt atop Minato Arisato's coffin. "I really hope no one comes across this..." she mumbled, forcing the coffin open. Nothing inside but a filthy skeleton, the bones of a saviour who almost nobody knew as a saviour. Elizabeth paused a moment, examining a golden pocket watch she kept on her at all times "10:30 PM...That's the time you specified, but-" Elizabeth was cut short by a bright flash of light that engulfed Minato's remains.

The skeleton floated up out of the coffin, light still glowing bright, and came to rest just on the headstone. Suddenly, veins and arteries began to grow around the skeletons frame, followed by muscle tissue, organs, skin and hair. Minato Arisato stood outside his own grave now, naked as a newborn, smoke coiling up from his newly regenerated body.

"Oh god please tell me that worked..." the indigo-haired man muttered, looking and feeling himself over. "Skin? Yes. Eyes? Yup. Hair? Sweet. Might need a haircut though...Family jewels?" Minato looked down, as if afraid to look below his own waist. He sighed with relief, finding the 'family jewels' as he called them "Check. Thank god...". Elizabeth climbed from the grave, face red, and dusted herself off "Minato, would you please dress yourself?" she asked, holding out a bag full of new clothes. "Ah, right!" Minato replied, as if only now aware that he was naked.

As Minato ducked in behind the nearest tree to change, he started talking again "You've done great so far Elizabeth. Did you...Get the list I asked for?". Elizabeth, as if anticipating Minato's question, was busy rooting around in her seemingly bottomless purse. She soon pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper, and passed it to Minato's outstretched hand. On this list were the phone numbers and home adress' of the former SEES members "Thanks Elizabeth, you've saved me _alot _of time". Minato stepped out from behind the tree, clad in a slate-grey blazer, obsidian slacks and clean white sneakers.

Elizabeth bowed out of respect "Think nothing of it. It's the least that could be done for someone like you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to my duties in the Velvet Room...". There was a sudden flash of blue light, and Elizabeth was gone without any evidence of her presence left behind. Minato, noting how little time he had at his disposal, started running and dialing numbers as he went. Fuuka, Junpei and Ken, while confused were contacted and advised to meet at Yukari's home ASAP. Akihiko and Mitsuru, he couldn't reach. He didn't call Yukari or Aigis as, well, that was his destination...

* * *

><p>Yukari had learned to move on and enjoy life after the incident with the Abyss of Time. Now, at 28, she was a columnist at a succesful fashion magasine in Iwatodai. Right now, she was busy putting the finishing touches on her newest article. Aigis, her robotic room mate, was sitting in the chair beside her, watching some mind-numbing Sentai show. Phoenix Ranger Featherman X, appearantly. Aigis had changed so much over the years, not just in termsof personality and mental ability, the Kirijo group had given her a series of upgrades so that she could effectively pass as human, no more mechanical parts showing. No point in her being an anti-Shadow weapon with no more Shadows around, right?<p>

Yukari's keyboard-tapping came to an abrupt halt when she noticed Aigis looking around as if she's head something "Huh? What's up Aigis?" Yukari asked, taking her laptop off her lap. "I..I don't know...I felt a presence outside the house just now, a familiar presence. But...It can't be". The two women stood up, hearing a hasty knocking on their front door. The two looked at eah other and nodded, moving cautiously toward the front door. Somebody coming over this late at night, after Aigis sensed a weird presence? It didn't bode well.

"Hello? Wh-who's out there?" Yukari called out, making sure she was in grabbing distance of some sort of weapon. There was silence for a few tense moments, before a reply came from the other side of the door "Guess". That familiar voice almostmade Yukari's heart explode in her chest, as would Aigis if she had an actual beating heart, and she called out again "M-Minato-kun...?" she whispered. She wasted no time, rushing over and opening the door. There he was, as if he'd never died and left them, taller and more mature looking. Time had a nice effect on a man who was supposed to be dead.

Tears began streaming down Yukari's face, seeing the man she had loved before her once again. Aigis too was crying, though still cautious, slowly moving toward the two. Minato, the only one here who had dry eyes, smiled and asked "Miss me dears?".

* * *

><p>AN: Yaaaay, things are coming together. Hopefully I'll be able to build this up properly, and make a good story.


	4. Q and A with Minato

Minato's reunion with his friends had not been an occasion of laughter and fun, like it had been for Souji. In Minato's case, it was more a series of uneasy stares and uncomfortable silence when Junpei, Fuuka, Ken and Koromaru arrived. Finally, after a long uncomfortable silence, Minato spoke.

"Uh...Do you guys mind not staring? You're making me uncomfortable". Junpei coughed up violently in surprise "U-us? Making _you _feel uncomfortable? Dude, you've been dead for 10 years! We're the ones who're uncomfortable here!". He glanced over toward Fuuka "Fuuka, is it really him? You can sense if it's not, right?". Fuuka nodded "My powers faded alot over the years, but I can tell that much at least...Same body too, which is the odd thing". Minato smiled, noting the larger, older Koromaru rubbing against his leg "See? Koro-chan here agrees".

Ken spoke up, gathering the attention of the room "Uh...If you're really Minato-senpai, tell us some things only he'd know...". Minato was silent for a few moments, looking Ken over "Oh, uh sorry. Didn't even recognise you for a second there Ken-kun! You look alot like Shinji, you know that? I mean, if Shinji was alot less intimidating and less scruffy". He looked over at Junpei "Do you remember...how about that 'incident' in the Kyoto springs?". Junpei hastily silenced his resurrected friend "Ah, let's not go into any more detail on that! I'm convinced!". Minato looked over the others "Do the rest of you need convinving?". The rest shook their heads "Good".

"Um...I have a question...What really happened during your fight with Nyx? Why did you die? How are you back here?" Yukari asked, shifting about uncomfortably in her seat. Her apartment wasn't built to hold this many people at a time, and most were squashed together on the couch for this little meeting. "All excellent questions my dear. You're all familiar with the Velvet Room, yes? Well, after Nyx began descending on the Earth, I was drawn in there. I was given the power of the Universe Arcana and, encouraged by the voices of my closest friends and loved ones, I was given the strength to go confront Nyx face to face so to speak. However, Nyx is an abstract concept. You can't kill death, that's a ludicrous notion. So, I had to think of another way to win...".

"So you used the Great Seal..." Ken added "But how did you know to use it in the first place?". A thin smile spread across Minato's face "The idea, I originally got from Aigis when she sealed Death in me as a kid. I just decided to replicate that, on a much grander scale. Of course, I had no plans to stay dead. When I first used the Universe Arcana, I had psuedo-omnicscience. If I asked myself a question, Bam! I'd know the answer. So, while I was flying up to face Nyx, I began thinking up the best possible plan for a lasting solution to the Fall. I would create a seal with my soul, killing my physical avatar as a side-effect, where I could work on a better Seal with my power. It took 10 years, but I made a far more powerful seal in the space between dream and reality. My body was dug up a few hours ago by Elizabeth, the servant of the Velvet Room, and I was able to fully reanimate myself with my powers. I'd say that wraps it up nicely...".

Fuuka was fidgeting uncomfortably, still rather unnerved by all this "And...Do you still have those powers?" she asked, a hint of fear in her voice. "Well yeah. But I have a large portion of it sealed off" Minato replied, folding his arms. "Uh, why?" Junpei asked, not seeing why anyone would give up near-godhood. "A few reasons, really. Mainly because I can't fully control them, and I might accidentaly split the universe in half by frowning" this caused a small shudder to spread through the group. Minato frowned _alot._

"Plus, the line between god and man is not one I plan on nearing" Minato continued, the corner of his lip turning downward. "Hey, anyone here have a mirror?" Minato asked, perking up, as if forgetting what he had just been talking about. Yukari raised an eyebrow at the request, but rooted through her purse nonetheless and pulled out a compact mirror, passing it to her recently revived boyfriend. "Ah excellent" Minato remarked with a smile, checking his hair "I figured the 'emo teen' look wouldn't be too fitting for a guy bordering on 30". With a flick of his wrist, the long navy fringe that covered half his face receeded, leaving the young man with an even part on both sides "Nice..." Minato smirked.

"Hey when you, uh, died why did Aigis get your old power?" Ken asked, that detail niggling at him over the years. Minato chuckled slightly "Well, I gave it to Aigis because I knew she'd benefit the most from it. As for how I did it, well that's a secret". Minato hadn't forgotten the silent bargain he'd made with the blue butterfly as it floated past him before he died. The butterfly, at Minato's request had transferred the Wild Card to Aigis. Not like he even needed it since he got the Universe Arcana.

"Are you...Are you feeling all right, Minato-kun? You're acting alot more upbeat then you used too..." Aigis asked, feeling as if she'd start crying again any moment. Minato kept smiling "Ah, don't get too used to it, I'll probably go all moody again soon enough. I'm just so pumped about being alive again! You have no idea whatyou gus take for granted...Blinking, breathing, smelling, touching- this couch feels amazing by the way- All things that I had no idea how much I loved". Junpei smiled "Great to have you back man". He used to dislike Minato, felt a strong sense of jealousy for his old leader and how he was always the hero...Always the most powerful, always the one that girls hit on. And then he had to go sacrifice himself to save the world. It's hard to stay mad at a guy who gave his life to save all mankind, especially when Junpei himself knew he could never have made the same sacrifice. "So everything's good now, right?" Junpei asked optimisticaly.

Minato scratched the back of his neck and rolled his eyes "Weeeellll..." he trailed off uncomfortably "Say, where are Akihiko and Mitsuru? I couldn't reach either when I called 'em...". Fuuka was able to answer for Mitsuru, being her employee "Oh, Mitsuru-san had to attend a business meeting in some rural town...I can't think of the name off the top of my head...". Aigis answered for Akihiko "Akihiko is currently a police detective, working on a case in another city. Why do you ask?". Minato looked over at the clock "Well I uh...It's 11: 59 right now so I figure they'll be trying to get in contact in 5..."

"Wait a minute-"

"4..."

"Oh shit..."

"3..."

"You can't be serious man!"

"2..."

"Can't be!"

"1..."

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><p>Back in Inaba, a small laugh spread through the old Investigation Team. They had more or less forgotten the arguement from earlier, sake did work wonders, and were preparing to wrap up for the night. "Well, I gotta'...Gotta' go t' work tomorrow, and Nanako 'sgotta' go to school..." Dojima managed to slur out, getting to his feet awkwardly. Souji laughed slightly, his teenage daughter supporting her father on her shoulder "Okay, see you guys around. I will be sticking around after all". Nanako smiled "I know, best news I've heard in a long time. Later Big Bro".<p>

As the two exited the room, Teddie was busy looking at the clock "Woot! 'S almost midnight! Let's count down!". Yosuke groaned and shook his head "No, let's not". Teddie frowned "Aw...Yosuke, you're such a buzzkill...They should call you uh...That guy who's a buzzkill". Despite that not even being a pun, or remotely funny, Yukiko still burst out with one of her signature laughing fits, which caused Chie to groan "Why did suggest giving sake to these people?".

And then the air grew cold and the lights went out, replaced with a neon green glow from the moon above, in an instant.

It was a sobering experience, and those who had been rendered drunken fools by the earlier party became far more attentive due to the unsettling shift in atmosphere. "Whoa! Wh-what the hell? I don't think this is a blackout guys..." Kanji remarked, clearly nervous. Naoto, the most observant in the room stood up "The clock...It's stuck on midnight". The Investigation team looked around "D-do you think the TV World has something to do with all this?" Chie asked, staring at the green moon outside. Souji, naturally, took up the leadership role in this situation "We should try to arm ourselves if we're going back in. Not sure if our Personae are as powerful, but regardless we have t-".

He was cut short by a frantic Nanako bursting into the room "Big Bro! S-something's wrong with dad!" she yelled. Souji ran over to his young cousin trying to calm her down "Hey, easy Sis...What do you mean something's wrong with your dad?". Nanako led the group outside, showing them a tall black coffin where her father had been mere moments ago. Several other strange coffins also marked the area where other Inn residents had been.

While the Investigation Team didn't understand what was going on, SEES did...The Dark Hour was back in effect.

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><p>AN: Hey awesome, four chapters down. Yeah, this'll have Yukari x Minato, sorry to dissapoint any of you hoping for something else. Just didn't think the other romance options were any good, or worth exploring in the story. Anyway though, read and review if you wouldn't mind.<p> 


	5. An Encounter With An Empress

A/N: Hey there reader, I was hoping to answer this early on in this chapter. In regards to Yukari, I chose her since she seemed the least terrible romance option. Aigis is a robot, Fuuka is _insufferable _and Mitsuru seemed to icey for my liking. And I don't give enough of a shit to even remember the names of the other two, so yeah. As for pairings in general though, they won't get that much of the spotlight. Mainly for some character developement. That's all I'm hoping to say on the matter, so what's say we leave it at that.

The Investigation Team had regrouped in the conference room, hoping to make sense of what was going on. "Okay, so for some reason, everybody in the Amagi Inn has been turned into...coffins and the moon is now glowing neon green. And no power is working. For whatever reason, we're not affected. Why?" Souji asked, looking over those present. Yosuke furrowed his brow in thought, before speaking up "Maybe...Because we're all Persona-users?". While the theory would make sense if the Investigation Team knew the truth, Souji shook his head in uncertainty "What about Nanako? She didn't have a Persona". Rise cut in "Actually, Souji-kun, ever since this weird stuff started I could feel Kanzeon's scanning ability...I don't know how, because I could never use her outside the TV world before. Nanako has the power, though it's locked deep down...".

Souji raised an eyebrow, and looked over at his distressed cousin. "Big Bro..." she whispered "Wh-when I got kidnapped...I remember Namatame turning into some weird angel thing, and you guys all started fighting him with these weird monster things...Is that what a 'Persona' is?". Souji blinked in surprise. The girl always was surprisingly perceptive, but Souji didn't think she'd have any memory ofher kidnapping. "Y-yeah, that's it exactly...". Naoto cleared her throat, gathering the attention of those present "I don't mean to distract you Souji-san, but I believe we shoud head into the TV world to see if it's somehow related. Another powerful entity might be trying to corrupt that world again". Kanji stood up quickly "W-well wait a minute...If that's what's goin' on, we can't bring Nanako along". Souji crossed his arms and thought deeply "True, but I'm not exactly keen on leaving her here in weirdo coffin-land either...Rise, you said she had a Persona right?". Rise frowned "Well...Not exactly. She has the potential, I think, but not an actual Persona".

Souji rubbed his chin in thought "Ah, I see. Well, I believe I can remedy that. Maybe". The team leader extended a hand out to Nanako "Grab on" he spoke bluntly. Nanako raised an eyebrow, but complied anyway as she trusted Souji above all else. Souji furrowed his brow, concentrating intently, and released a jolt of spirit power into Nanako's system. The shock caused both of them to breath in sharply, and left the two clutching their heads in pain. Yosuke aproached the two, helping them to regain their balances "D-dude, what did you just do?". Souji coughed up slightly and answered "I tried to give Nanako's power a jumpstart, like what Izanami did for me..." he looked up, seeing Nanako staring in awe at a floating tarot card "I think it worked...". Indeed it had, Nanako obtained the facade used to endure life's hardships, **Ame-No-Uzume.**

"Agh...My head's killing me..." Nanako groaned, massaging her temples. Souji laughed slightly "Heh, yeah sorry, there's no comfortable way to get a Persona...Don't worry, it'll subside in a bit". Souji turned his head to the side, seeing Yukiko examining the TV in the room. "W-wait Yuki-chan! You don't know where that TV will take us" Teddie spoke nervously. Yukiko nodded "I know, but...I'm just testing a theory here, but I don't think the TV World is related to this". She reached her hand out to see if she could enter the TV, only for her fingers to *clink* against the glass screen.

"Well...Shit..." Souji remarked, scratching his head.

Mitsuru Kirijo, the elegant and beautiful CEO of the Kirijo group, had found herself in the small town of Inaba for negotiations with a rival corporation. The rival group had chosen the Amagi Inn as a venue for their negotiations, as it was such an excellent area. And that was why Mitsuru, having finished these negotiations, was sitting in her room drinking wine and reading. 'Death's Fog by Souji Seta', an excellent read. Though Mitsuru couldn't help but notice some strangely familiar elements of the novel.

Then the Dark Hour struck, for the first time in over ten years, causing Mitsuru to gasp sharply and drop her wine glass. "No...It can't be..." Mitsuru whispered, feeling genuine fear. It was a sensation she hadn't felt since Nyx's descent. But Minato Arisato had given his life to seal Nyx, and the Dark Hour, away. Had he...Had he failed, somehow?

Mitsuru brushed those thoughts aside, this wasn't the time for wild speculation. She hastily redressed herself back into her business suit, and rooted her old Evoker from her suitcase. It was a memento of past adventures that she always had with her...And now she was being forced to use it as a weapon once again. She slowly slid her front door open and poked her head around the corner. No signs of life, but that was typical for the Dark Hour. But as she made her way further down the Amagi Inn's corridors, she couldn't help but feel as though something was off. You see, the thing that most people noticed first about the Dark Hour was how eerily _quiet _it was. And yet, Mitsuru could definitely hear some faint noise in the distance. Shadows? But it was so rare for them to even venture outside of Tartarus, why would there be Shadows this far out?

As Mitsuru drew closer she became aware that the sound she was hearing was not the predatorial growl of a Shadow, but rather the worried conversation of humans. Mitsuru peered into the open doorway of their room, spying at least 9 of them. A slender young man with windswept brown hair was busy adressing the group "Okay, so first of all the moon turns into a big freakin' lightbulb and all the people turn into coffins. And after that, it turns out we can use our Personas again. And then on top of that, for whatever reason we can't go back into the TV world!". Mitsuru quirked a brow. The fact that they could exist in the Dark Hour meant they were possibly Persona-users, but then they themselves confirmed it. But what was with all the talk about a TV world? "Uh guys..." a short red-haired girl began. Mitsuru recognized this girl, she was Rise Kujikawa the famous idol. She was a Persona-user? "I sense somebody outside our room...".

Mitsuru froze up, slowly reaching for her concealed Evoker. The silver-haired leader turned his gaze toward the door, a glowing tarot card spinning in his palm "Is it a shadow?" he asked, not tearing his gaze from the door. Rise shook her head "No...It's another Persona-user". This caused the leader to raise an eyebrow, before he barked out "Alright! We know you're out there, come in here slowly!". Mitsuru sighed in defeat, and entered with her arms raised. The brown-haired young man's jaw practically dropped off when he saw her enter, which earned him a dig in the ribs from a short tomboy. A short blonde young man in the group was equally impressed by her looks, and cracked a smile. "Well, helloooo..." he purred, almost sparkling in the moonlight. The tall leader raised a hand to stop his shorter friend from advancing "Hold up Ted. We don't know her intentions. Who are you? How did you get a Persona?".

Mitsuru folded her arms, looking mildly annoyed "I could ask you the same. Mitsuru Kirijo". The Inn manager, Yukiko Amagi who Mitsuru recognised from earlier, nodded "That's right...She was here for some important business meeting...". The silver-haired young man seemed mildly surprised, but he was a master at keeping a straight face "Fair enough. Doesn't explain how you got a Persona". Mitsuru seemed reluctant to speak at first, but seeing that tarot card spinning ominously in his palm did wonders at making her talk "This...Is the Dark Hour. It's a hidden hour that exists between 11:59 PM and 12:00 O'clock midnight. Only people with the potential to summon a Persona are able to exist in this time period. I was among a handful of people born with this potential". The group seemed skeptical, who wouldn't be, but they had gone through some crazy things in the past. They were willing to give Mitsuru the benefit of the doubt. She went on to explain how the Dark Hour came to be, how she and a group of her fellow students became the Specialised Extracuricular Execution Squad, how the mysterious tower known as Tartarus was creating an outbreak of Apathy Syndrome. She told them how their field leader, Minato Arisato, had the misfortune of being a vessel for death. How their efforts to end the Dark Hour only strengthened the embodiment of Death, and how the world surely would have perished from Nyx's descent upon the world were it not for Minato sacrficing his life to seal Nyx outside the reach of Earth.

Their leader whisteled slightly "That's...Quite a story Mitsuru..." the tarot card in his hand vanished, and he seemed to believe her story. "My name is Souji Seta, the leader of the Investigation Team-". Mitsuru cut him short "You're _that _Souji Seta? As in, the author? No wonder some of the elements in your books seemed so familiar...". Souji scratched the back of his neck, somewhat embarassed "Heh, well yeah...Anyway, these are my team mates. Yosuke Hanamura, Rise Kujikawa, Kanji Tatsumi, Naoto Shirogane, Yukiko Amagi, Chie Satonaka, Nanako Dojima and Teddie". Mitsuru raised an eyebrow "Just...Teddie?". Souji shrugged "Technically he's not even human. He's a Shadow that became human".Mitsuru seemed shocked by that revelation "A shadow that...Became human? Just like Ryoji...". Souji nodded remembering the 'Ryoji' she mentioned in her stories.

Souji went on to explain about the mysterious murders in Inaba over 10 years ago, how he and his friends discovered a world inside the TV which contained Shadows. How people who were thrown into the TV world had to face their inner-self or they would die. How their investigation into these strange events led to them defeating a copycat killer, went on to fight a man who had been fooled into thinking throwing people into the TV would save them, who had been corrupted by an insane sadistic police detective named Adachi, who was in turn being posessed by a mad deity known as Ameno-Sagiri, who was actually just a fabrication of the goddess Izanami. He finished by saying his defeat of Izanami freed the TV world, a place formed by people's hearts, from her corruption and falsehood.

"Now _that _is a story" Mitsuru remarked, still counting up all the twists and turns in Souji's tale. "So uh...What're we gonna' do about all this?" Kanji asked, scratching the back of his head. Souji folded his arms, deep in thought "The most logical conclusion is for us to meet up with the rest of Mitsuru's team. They have a much greater understanding of what's going on. But, since we've been dragged into this 'Dark Hour' we should do what we have to to undo this mess". The team nodded, seeing that years later trouble found a way to track them down.


	6. A New Challenger Approaches!

"Great! Now the damn Dark Hour is back!" Junpei exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration. He turned sharply to face Minato, who was sitting unphased by the sudden shift in time and space "And it happens as soon as you come back from the dead. Some coincidence, huh?". Minato's lip twitched slightly in annoyance "I can assure you, my seal was perfect. Nyx isn't the one causing it this time. It's a different, yet still very powerful, threat this time. I'm quite certain it's Erebus, the creature you fought during that whole 'Abyss of Time' fiasco". Yukari's expression darkened, and she suddenly feltrather embarrassed "Not that the Dark Hour being back isn't important but...You know all about what happened with the Abyss of Time?". Minato nodded "Yeah, weird stuff".

He stood up sharply from his seat and stretched "I predicted that Erebus would eventually decide to use his head if her were to have a chance at breaking the seal. He's planning, and the first step of that plan involves creating a new 'Dark Hour effect'. First order of business, get the old gang back together. Akihiko and Mitsuru,I imagine, will be trying to get in contact as soon as the Dark Hour ends...However, I know that SEES alone won't be enough to resolve the issue. We'll need help, from other Persona-users". This caused confusion among the others, as the only other Persona-users they knew about were Strega. Two of which were long dead, and another who had lost all memories of her past as a Persona-user.

"How do you know all this?" Fuuka asked, leaning forward in anticipation. "Psuedo-omniscience" Minato replied bluntly "I decided to do a little bit of...fortune telling. I saw ahead by quite a bit, but Nyx interrupted me from seeing everything that lies ahead...All I know is, another group of Persona-users will be helping us against Erebus...". Junpei scowled "If you're so powerful now, can't you just...I dunno, wish the Dark Hour away or something?". Minato frowned "I don't know if I could...Even if I released the restrictions on my power...I don't even want to think of the damage I could cause if I accidentaly lost control of my power. Trust me, it's troubling to think about". Junpei's scowl only seemed to worsen "It worked ten years ago...". Minato gave a scowl of his own and narrowed his eyes "Ten years ago,it _killed me_" he hissed.

Ken stood up coming between the two "H-hey, let's not lose our cool here. We'll need to be focusing any anger on the Shadows when the time comes". Junpei and Minato seemed to sigh at the same time, with Minato speaking up "Ken's right. You always were a logical guy Ken. Nice to see time hasn't changed you...". Junpei looked up, an idea hitting him "Maybe I should get Chidori back in on this?". Minato shook his head "Bad idea. Junpei, when she was revived with no memories of the Dark Hour, her Persona was effectively locked away. If she uses it again, even once, then she could be killed by her own Persona. And if her Persona doesn't kill her,the drugs to restain her Persona will. She'll be able to live a long and full life, so long as you don't start that vicious cycle again". Junpei nodded, somewhat unnerved at the prospect of Chidori going through all that again. Having her memory back could be a good thing, but her dying would be horrible as you can well imagine "Y-yeah, you're right...So what do we do now?".

Minato moved silently over to the window, his features illuminated by the pale green moonlight. He stood there, perfect posture, with his hands clasped together behind his back. Then he spoke so softly, that it made all those present jump slightly "We wait...".

* * *

><p>Tartarus, the massive Tower of Demise, had been brought into this world after the Death Arcana was given form. Gekkokaun High, the place where the Kirijo group had performed their ungodly experiments was the focal point of the Shadow's time-space distortion, creating Tartarus , a vile lair for Shadows to thrive in while they waited for their beloved mother to descend upon the Earth. And the day she did, Minato Arisato dashed their plans by sealing Nyx and all other Shadows away along with Tartarus.<p>

Now though, Erebus had dragged everything except Nyx back into the real world. Tartarus now gleamed as menacingly as ever on the horizon, jutting out of the ground like a broken bone that had torn through the Earth's skin. For over ten years, nothing had entered the grand tower. Until now. A slender figure, clad from head to toe in a black suit, with a golden Melpomene mask covering his face. He was near the top floors of the tower, standing over the untouched remains of Jin Shirato. They had been completely blown apart by a grenade blast from his final battle with SEES, leaving nothing but a charred skeleton and beaten suitcase behind. A grenade to the face will do that to a guy. The only reason there was even a skeleton left at all was due to the Persona-users superhuman durability. The mysterious figure, seemingly unmoved by the gruesome sight, lifted the skeleton up with a flick of his wrist and kept advancing further up the tower with Jin's remains hovering up ahead.

As he ascended to the top of the tower, where the Nyx Avatar planned to summon it's mother, the figure stopped to examine the corpse of te Strega leader, Takaya Sakaki. His body, untouched by time as the tower had been sealed away, was in much better condition then Jin's but it still looked badly beaten. SEES had shown him very little in the way of mercy, after what he had done to them in the past. The mouthpiece on the figures mask opened wider by a degree, and suddenly a jet of shadow burst from his mouth, flowing into Takaya's mouth.

The Strega leaders eyes popped open, filled with new life, glowing a pale yellow. His muscles tensed and flared, and he shot up gasping for air. "Takaya Sakaki...You had hoped to bring about the Fall, you are an instigator of apathy, despair and destruction. We have need of you" the figure spoke, it's grim voice echoing when he spoke. Takaya will still breathing heavily, looking himself over. His body felt...stronger, he couldn't explain it. His tattooes were flowing and moving globs of darkness, and whatever the hell was flowing through his veins now it certinly wasn't blood. He looked up and the dark figure looming over him, the only feature he could make out was the golden face mask "What are...How am I...Jin..." Takaya couldn't think straight, so many thoughts flying around in his head, and the remains of his best friend resting beside him certainly wasn't helping. Jin may have been little more then a skeleton now...But Takaya just knew it was him.

The mysterious figure tilted it's head to the side, seeming somewhat annoyed with Takaya's erratic behaviour "Yes that is indeed Jin Shirato, your second in-command. You are alive again because my superior wishes for you to live again, and Jin can live once again if you are willing to aid us. As for who I am..." the figure reached up and stroked the chin of his mask "Hrm...I never had a name. Never saw any need for one. I suppose you can call me Mr. Niall Hism". Takaya narrowed his cat-like eyes, clearly unimpressed with 's wordplay. He forced himself back onto his feet, wiping some beads of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand "Very well...If I can help to bring about the Fall, and if I can give Jin a second chance against our most unruly enemies, then I will take you up on your offer...".

The lips on 's mask, amazingly, curled upward into a smile "Glad to hear it. Let us see if Jin is as willing to help". 's mouth opened wide once again, firing out another jet of shadow which encased Jin's charred remains. Suddenly, Jin's flesh was reformed, he was given a new black-and-red trenchcoat, and a pair of red-tinted sunglasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He was breathing heavily, gasping his first few breaths with his new lungs. He, like Takaya, had been heavily altered by 's interference. He started feeling at his face, shocked that he could feel anything at all. He looked over at Takaya, still struggling with these sudden revelations "T-Takaya! You...Me...What's..." he looked up at the ominous pale green moon "Th-the Dark Hour? What's going on? Did you fail to defeat those brats?".

He slowly looked up at Mr. Hism, only now noticing his presence "I can explain things quite well . You've been dead for ten years, as has Takaya. You did indeed fail to bring about the Fall. However, now I am here to give you a second chance. Call me Mr. Niall Hism". Jin looked up, he was sweating extensively and his eyes had narrowed into tiny little beads "A-another chance, huh?" Jin asked, trying to get back on his feet. Hism nodded "Indeed. Well, if you are willing of course...".He extended his hands out to both Jin and Takaya. The two hesitated a moment, unsure if they really wanted to be dragged back into another lifetime of suffering...Still, if there was a chance to complete their greatest ambition and bring about the Fall, it was certainly an opportunity they didn't want to pass up on.

They lead lives too short to stop and ponder things. They accepted Hism's offer, having no intention to ever look back.

* * *

><p>Akihiko could have done a great deal many things after leaving school, he was a smart fellow and a fantastic athlete. He had recieved a great number of offers to go pro in boxing, or to go pro in other athletic circles. But, he had no cares for either fame or fortune. He found pleasure in being able to help people, in being strong enough to protect those who needed his protection. Hence, he became a police officer in the city of Ayanagi. He had also become involved in researching the origin and nature PersonaShadow phenomenon.

It was after pulling another late nights work, that Akihiko had gone to sleep early and missed a very important call from his recently resurrected leader. The only reason he had even been awake to experience the newly returned Dark Hour was because 'nature called' as he'd put it, and when he became aware of his surroundings there was only one thing Officer Sanada could really say.

"Well...Shit...".

* * *

><p>AN: Well, I'm not overly happy with how I introduced Akihiko, but I really just wanted to get his proper introduction out of the way. So yeah, sorry if it comes off a little half-assed, but it's really all I was in the mood to do.


	7. At Last, We Two Meet

A week had gone by since the return of the Dark Hour. After Mitsuru had contacted her old SEES allies, learning about the situation with Minato, it was agreed that the members from both SEES and the Investigation Team should take time to make preparations for the upcoming investigation. They had jobs, and employers they needed to make excuses for. Of course, Minato had the means to keep their employers from gaining suspiscion.

For the past week, Minato had been staying with Yukari and Aigis for simplicity's sake. He was still technically dead, and as such couldn't own property as you can imagine. He'd have to resolve the issue when this whole mess was over and done with. "Everything okay in there?" Yukari asked, her back pressed to the bathroom door. "Aside from all the girly toiletries? Fine" Minato replied from the other side of the door. Yukari sniffed slightly, a wetness coming to her eyes. Ever since Minato had returned, she had been trying to repress alot of things. Every time she heard his voice now, she wanted to cry tears of joy, after smacking him around a little for not telling her his plan. "What's up?" Minato asked, a thin ammount of concern lacing his voice. "N-nothing!" Yukari replied indignantly. Minato sighed on his side of the door "Yukari, I can tell when you're lying. You're really bad at it. More importantly though, I know when you're crying. So what's up?".

Yukari shut her eyes tightly and moved away from the bathroom door, trying to find the right words to say. Minato emerged from the bathroom a short while later, dressed in his navy dress shirt and obsidian slacks. Yukari took a deep breath and started speaking "It's just...I've had to think alot, ever since you came back. I had buried just about everything about you except memories...And now you're back, along with the Dark Hour, and it's so much to take in again on such short notice...". Minato nodded in understanding, she and the other SEES members had every right to be confused and worried right now. "I know it's alot to take in...And if it were up to me, this wouldn't be happening at all. But this is what destiny brings us, isn't it?". Yukari smiled sadly and glanced down at her feet "I really loved you, ya know? I did some stupid things back then, sure, I was just a stupid teenager back then...And, when I realised what I'd lost when you died, it tore me up inside. I lost my dad, things were still rocky with my mom...and then I lost you, the guy who made me feel so good about myself. I was willing to tear the universe apart and fight Nyx again, just so you could be brought back..." tears were flowing down her face quite liberally now.

"Why didn't you tell us you were dying?" Yukari asked quietly, barely above a whisper. Minato moved closer and left his hands resting on her shoulders "Because, it wouldn't have changed anything. None of you had your memories at the time, and my decaying body lacked the power to restore them...Plus I...I didn't want to worry you guys. You couldn't have done anything to help me even if you knew". He cupped her chin and lifted her head to look at him "For what it's worth though, I appreciate that you'd go that far to see me again. Would've been a little peeved if you undid everything though" Minato joked, which earned a small laugh from Yukari "That's what I like to hear" Minato said, a small grin creeping on his face. Yukari wiped her eyes and spoke again "You ruined dating for me, you know that? I never met another guy who was as confident, charming and smart as you...". Minato laughed slightly in response "So, what're you saying? You uh...Wanna' go back to the way things were for us in the past?". Yukari smiled sheepishly "Maybe. I think I'll wait a little to see a little to make sure you don't do another dissapearing act".

Minato gave a mock shrug "Fair enough. Let's wake Aigis and get a move on to the Kirijo Tower, shall we?" he extended a hand out, which Yukari accepted. Despite the craziness, there was some good things coming out from all this.

* * *

><p>Souji sat idly and silently, watching the scenery fly past the train window. This was a familiar sight to him, given how many times he had visited and left Inaba. Difference this time was he had all his friends travelling with him. Souji took a moment to look around at his close allies who had once again decided to follow him into hell. Sitting just across from his was Teddie, who was snoring his head off. In the booth opposite his, he saw Kanji and Naoto sitting side by side. Kanji was fast asleep, his face smeered against the train window. Naoto was sitting beside him reading one of those Kuzunoha detective novels she loved so much, seemingly unaware of her boyfriends oafish antics.<p>

Slightly further down the cart Yukiko, Rise, Nanako and Chie are deep in girly conversation. Well, Chie wasn't. She was awkward on those subjects, only offering her input when she actually felt like it. Now where was Yosuke?

As if on que, Souji's closest friend plopped down in the seat beside him "Everything okay with you partner?" Yosuke asked, a brow raised up. Souji gave no real expression in response, his mouth was only a thin straight line. "You don't trust that Mitsuru woman, do you?". Souji heaved a sigh "Not entirely, no. Some of the things she said about Persona's and Shadow's didn't match up with our experiences. But..." Souji trailed off, reclining in his seat, deep in thought "Well, she and her friends seem to be the only people who have a clue about this 'Dark Hour' thing, so our only real option is to play along with them and see if they're trustworthy. Yosuke nodded in agreement "Yeah, that makes sense. That's not all that's on your mind though, is it?".

Souji sighed, somewhat annoyed that his best friend could read him so well. He glanced overtoward Nanako, who was still deep in conversation "Ah" Yosuke said, understanding the situation in an instant "You're worried about her, I get it. Only reason she's able to come along is because it's summer, and she insisted on coming because she loves her Big Bro so much". Souji nodded "Yeah...I appreciate that she cares that much, but I don't want to put her in danger. Only reason I jumpstarted her Persona like that was so she could defend herself if she had to...Dojima-san'll kill me if anything happens to her...Hell, I'd probably kill myself...". Souji almost jumped when Yosuke's hand landed on his shoulder, giving a reassuring pat "She's a strong girl. She escaped death once, remember? She's a fighter Souji, just like you". This caused a thin smile to spread across Souji's face. He adjusted his glasses and spoke up "Yeah, you've got a point there. Thanks Yosuke, glad to know I'm marching into Hell with you beside me". Yosuke gave a laugh, high-fiving Souji "Ha, you'd be lost without your trusty wingman. Admit it".

Souji smiled, thinking just how right Yosuke could be. He seemed to fluctuate wildly between Souji's 'comic foil' and his 'unstopable second in-command'. "It figures this kind of shit would happen as soon as I decide to settle down in Inaba. I wanted to finish my college courses, and get my career on track before I came back. What is it with weird shit hapening to us? Are we like, cosmic playthings?" Souji joked. He went quiet for a few moments, and spoke up again "You know, I think _their_ leader might outclass me a little..." Souji started, earning Yosuke's curiosity "I mean...I killed a goddess...He beat a _concept_. Guy performed miracles and came back from the dead...Hell, the guy's Persona is even called 'Messiah'!". Yosuke snorted "Ah, you're worrying over nothing dude. Hell, Namatame thought he was some sort of Messiah...". Souji frowned "This is different Yosuke...I think this 'Minato Arisato' of theirs is the real deal" Souji looked visibly uncomfortable at the prospect.

Yosuke shrugged "Maybe, maybe not. You'll still outclass him in overall awesome-ness. I'm more worried about something else though dude. They have a frickin' _robot _on their team. And the coolest thing we have is..." Yosuke looked over at the still-sleeping Teddie "...That". This caused Souji to burst out laughing "Hehe, c-come on man be nice. Teddie's...cool...Kinda...I guess". The two shared a laugh and a sigh, and Yosuke followed up by saying "Come on, maybe we should rest up or something. Uh...How far is Iwatodai again?".

* * *

><p>The Kirijo Tower was a massive shimmering obelisk on Port Island, a marvel of modern architecture that had served as the Kirjo group's headquarters for many years. On the surface, it seemed like yet another stuffy office complex. However, it was where the Kirijo group did the majority of their paranormal research ever since the 'incident' at Gekkokaun high twenty years ago. And now, it seemed an appropriate meeting place for SEES and the Investigation Team.<p>

Akihiko sat in the Kirijo Tower's lobby, sitting with one leg crossed over the other with his jet black blazer resting on his lap his fingers idly drumming on his knee. He had only returned to Iwatodai two days ago, after organising some details back in Ayanagi. He had briefly considered asking Shin and the others for their help, but reconsidered when he remembered they had problems of their own to deal with. He decided things would go alot smoother if he didn't mention anything to Mitsuru in regards to Ayanagi, lest she badger him into dragging Shin and his friends into this sorry mess. This had all been rather sudden, the Dark Hour returning, Minato coming back from the dead, Mitsuru meeting another group of Persona-users...And Akihiko being able to sense Caesar's power again, the power he thought he'd lost after the Abyss of Time incident.

Fuuka and Mitsuru were already here before him, made sense as they both worked here, busy getting things ready in the Tower's sub-levels. Junpei arrived next, and he and Akihiko made small talk about the past and what had changed since last they met. "Yo, Akihiko-san. Sup?" Junpei looked quite the same as he did 10 years ago. Fuller looking goatee, same hat. He was better built though, if nothing else. He did want to keep his figure after he'd grown so strong from fighting Shadows. Ken and Koromaru showed up then. Koromaru was definitely larger and older, and as a result Akihiko was wary of bringing him back to the fighting. Ken looked so different now, a tall and handsome young man with a mop of scruffy brown hair atop his head. Last Akihiko heard, Ken was busy doing some pretty impressive college courses. Not surprising to anybody as, well, this was Ken. "Akihiko-san! Long time no see!".

Finally Yukari, Aigis and the recently revived Minato, I never take my hands out of my damn pockets, Arisato. Akihiko gave brief greetings to the two girls, deciding to focus most of his attention on his former leader who had miraculously come back from the dead. He wasn't willing to believe it until he saw it first hand but his leader was indeed alive, and his hands were indeed buried deep in his pockets. "It's...good to have you back, Minato" Akihiko spoke, not really sure what to say, as he shook his undead friends hand. "You too, Sanada-senpai" Minato replied, glad to see time had been kind to Akihiko.

Minato paused a moment, and looked around the lobby "I take the crew from Inaba aren't here yet?". Junpei gave a small snort "Well, duh...Hey, what do we actually know about these guys anyway?". The majority present shrugged in uncertainty. Mitsuru had been slightly vague on the details. "Well, I know Rise Kujikawa is a member of their group" Ken remarked, which earned oddly girlish squeels from Minato and Junpei "Risette? _The _Risette?" Minato asked enthusiastically "Oh man, I had such a crush on her when she was starting out" Junpei said, thinking back all those years. Aigis rolled her eyes before speaking up "One of them is a Shadow who gained a human personality". Minato's demeanour shifted suddenly to a more serious nature "Sounds like Ryoji...I hope that's only a coincidence tough...".

Minato stopped and looked over his shoulder, seeing the members of the Investigation Team enter. They were an intresting and mixed bunch, to say the least. SEES didn't seem much better on the surface either though. The two teams moved toward each other, offering greetings and handshakes, while Souji and Minato seemed to be silently sizing each other up. Yosuke leaned over and whispered to Kanji "Dude, something awesome's gonna' happen,just watch..." while Junpei leaned over and whispered to Akihiko "Geez, you think they're gonna start comparin' sizes or something?". After a lengthy, and somewhat tense, silence between the two old Wild Cards they gave eachother a handshake "Minato Arisato, how's it going?" "Souji Seta, heard alot about you". Yosuke facepalmed, Kanji gave a grunt in annoyance, Junpei gave a small laugh in disbelief and Akihiko just sort of...stared.

Now though, Souji was deep in thought. He remembered after his epic struggle with Margaret all those years ago, she mentioned the slumbering soul of a blue haired boy who sacrificed himself to save a world who had lost their joy in living. This man, standing before him, was the same figure Margaret alluded to? It was fascinating how intertwined their destinies were now...

Souji's thoughts were interrupted by the pinging of the elevator behind him. The door slid open, revealing Mitsuru, Fuuka and...an unknown woman who wore a few scars on her face which were partially covered by short black hair. "Oh my gosh...Rise Kujikawa!" Fuuka squeeled. Mitsuru ignored her co-workers fan girlish outburst and focused her attention on the gathered Persona-users "Ah, good to see you've all met. You'll have to get formally acquainted later I'm afraid, we're ready for you in the armoury...".

* * *

><p>AN: Huzzah, a new chapter. Sorry if I kept some of you waiting, suffered from a bout of writers block. Either way, even though this chapter is longer then the last few, I fear I'm making them too short. What do you all think?


	8. A Tour Of The Armory

It took three entire elevator trips to get everybody from both teams down to the Kirijo towers armory. Now the majority of the group was awestruck as they looked over the sterile white walls of the area, and the various weapons around. Hell most of those things looked like they were taken from a sci-fi movie. Those who were still looking around were snapped out of their trance when the mysterious dark-haired woman spoke up "Kasumi Sakagi". Yukiko raised an eyebrow "Uh, excuse me?".

"That's my name, I assumed some of you were curious. I effectively run the armory". Minato crossed his arms, and looked the ageing woman over. She looked about 40, though perhaps the scarring on her face made her look older, stood around 5' 10" and was athletically built from what Minato could see under that business suit. "You sure this is a Kirijo group employee we can trust, Mitsuru?". This earned a small chuckle from Kasumi "I assume you worry because of what Ikutski did. The man was a pompous ass, even before we found out what a complete lunatic he was. Me and him were always at each others throats...Don't worry, I'm nothing like him".

From what Mitsuru had told the Investigation Team, all they knew about Ikutski was that he was somebody who had posed as their ally only to betray and attempt to kill them. Adachi had done a similar thing. That wasn't what Chie was thinking about as she leaned over and whispered to Nanako "You know what's weird?". Nanako looked over, curiosity written across her face "Uh...What?". "Their leader and Yosuke...Don't their voices sound kind of alike?". Nanako merely shrugged in response "Yeah, I guess so...".

Kasumi led the group deep into the armory, and beckoned Yukari over "Takeba-san, your weapons were the easiest to gather, we had the prototypes laying about for years...". Yukari expertly caught the compound bow Kasumi tossed her, and spent a few moments carefully looking it over. It was a damn fine piece of equipment, though Yukari had her concerns "You know, it's been years since I've even handled a bow. I didn't make a career out of archery...". Kasumi gave a sly smile, and tossed Yukari a quiver full of various arrows, some of which Yukari had never seen before in her life "Even if your aim's gone to shit, these arrows should remedy the situation. You got standard sharp and blunt tip arrows for boring normal targets, but you've also got _special _arrows to deal with more 'problematic' targets...".

Kasumi pulled one arrow from the quiver, which was not topped with a typical sharp arrowhead. Rather the tip was a strange black capsule, marked by a faintly glowing red light "These, are napalm a target that's weak to fire, and **bam! **They won't be getting back up. Likewise blue coloured arrows release liquid nitrogen, for enemies weak to ice and tazer arrows for those weak to electricity. As wind is your specialty, the lab boys felt no reason to design any arrows for wind-weak enemies". Yukari gave a low whistle as she looked her arsenal over "Wow...If I had something like this back in our SEES days, life would've been so much easier".

Kasumi nodded and gave off a satisfied smile, continuing the tour. "Lead the way, Q" Souji said with a smile, earning some confused looks from his companions. Souji Seta, famous author, childhood prodigy, badass godslayer and colossal nerd. Kasumi lead them toward a small room, the only thing to be seen was a thick metal plate that looked like it had been taken right off a tank. She beckoned Kanji over "Tatsumi-san, your weapons were pretty easy to design too..." Kanji stepped forward, easily lifting the massive plate up and placing his arms into the straps. Any lesser man would have struggled with the weight, but Kanji was inhuman. Kasumi started describing Kanji's new shield as he was busy looking it over "It's a custom-built shield made from titanium and a special polymer, able to absorb and deflect a great deal of damage. In laymans terms, it's a big fucking metal plate that'll stop any attack dead in its tracks...".

In the next room Kasumi lead the group into, there were a pair of two-handed katana's perched up on the wall "Seta-san, Iori-san, as you two both use the same type of weapons we designed two of the same blade for you. For the most part it's just a normal, if abnormally durable, blade. However, they have this neat little trick going for them" she waltzed overto a nearby practice dummy, a flicked a switch on the blade abnormally bulky handle. The edge of the blade suddenly flared a glowing bright red, and in one swift motion she sliced clean through the mannequin. "Holy shit dude!" Junpei exclaimed, watching the sliced up dummy slowly slide apart. Kasumi merely smirked, flicking the switch again "With a touch of a button, the edge of the blade can be superheated to slice through damn near anything. Don't overdo it though. Heat it too long and the entire blade'll start to melt, followed by the circuitry being fried. Don't forget that". She let Souji and Junpei snatch up their weapons as she once again continued the tour.

In the next room in the armory, Kasumi called over Mitsuru and Minato, as they both held the same preference for one handed blades. "Here you go Kirijo-san, Arisato-san. I think you'll fine these rapiers are top notch...". She tossed them each one of the ornate rapiers, their handles were bizarrely bulky for a rapier and made of rubber for some reason but Minato figured they were there because of some bizarre technological upgrade. And he was right, as the next thing he saw was Mitsuru flicking the switch which caused a jolt of electricity to surge down the blade. That explained the rubber "You've outdone yourself Kasumi" Mitsuru remarked with a small smile growing across her full lips.

Teddie was the next one called up for his weapons "From what we were told, your request was perhaps the strangest, Teddie-san. A bear claw is definitely something new for us. Luckily, it wasn't too hard to figure out" he lifted a metal claw-like appendage up in her hand, and with a push of a button it shot out on a massive chain, impaling a target on the other end of the room. "Enjoy" Kasumi said with a smirk, tossing the claw to Teddie once she had retracted it. Teddie grinned from ear to ear "Neat!".

Kasumi did not head into another room for her next weapon. Instead she just reached into a weapons locker, and pulled out an impressive looking trident "Amada-san, I think you'll like this..." Kasumi remarked as Ken stepped forward. Young Ken was practically oblivious to Nanako checking him out, but Chie wasn't and gave off a small laugh at the young girls expense. Kasumi ignored the two and continued on with her weapons demonstration. With another button push, the trident's head shot out on a chain, impaling the same poor practive dummy again. Needless to say, Ken was impressed with the upgrade, he took the trident happily.

In the next room, Kasumi called Yukiko and Chie over to recieve their weapons. Whate they recieved was simple enough, but it suited the two just well. Yukiko recieved a steel fan, razor sharp to the touch. Chie recieved a pair of knee-high metal boots, with sharpened spikes on the toe caps. For Koromaru, he recieved a simple knife, and an enhanced version of his dog-evoker. Akihiko recieved a pair of large metal gauntlets from the Kirijo armory, which could fire out an explosive shell on impact, for that little extra 'kick'. Yosuke recieved a pair of daggers that could release an electric shock at the touch of a button. Naoto, who was unwilling to part with her trusty hand cannon, recieved a few boxes of special ammunition. Like Yukari's new arrows, the various bullets carried a series of different elemental effects. Very handy. Rise and Fuuka, holding the support roles, did not require any weapons as you can imagine.

As the tour of the armory was coming down to it's last two rooms, Kasumi paused a placed a finger resting on her chin "Nanako Dojima...You're new to all this, aren't you? Have you even been taught how to use your Persona?". Nanako nodded sheepishly in response "Y-yeah. Big b- Er, I mean Souji and the others took me into the TV world and taught me the basics". Kasumi nodded in response "Uh huh...Just out of curiosity, what skills does your Persona use?". Nanako scratched her head, trying to recall what Ame-no-Uzume could do "Uh...Light, electricity and healing. Why?". Kasumi nodded and moved over to a large steel trunk full of various different weapons of different shapes and sizes "Just trying to get a good idea of what weapon would suit you. Your obviously not a bruiser like Kanji, but I was just making sure...". She rooted around in the trunk, and then a smile stretched across her face as she pulled out a gleaming kusarigama "Light, has decent range, good at slicing things to bits. Should suit you nicely if you're forced into close quarters combat". Nanako took the chain-sickle, but she had a nervous smile on her face "Oh, well um. Thank you, but I don't know how to use this". Kasumi smiled "Then you better learn quickly".

Aigis was the last one to recieve her new weapons, but as Kasumi put it, they were saving the best for last. "Here you are Aigis-san. Your new Albiero's. We've upped their calibre, increased their ammo capacity and amplified their rate of fire. I think you'll find them to your liking". As Aigis was busy switching her synthetic human hands for her old mechanical gun-hands, much to the shock of the Investigation Team members, she couldn't help but look down at the ground in a forlorn manner "With all due respect Sakagi-san, this is a part of me I am not thrilled about bringing back. After all, I had spent so long trying to keep my humanity in tact...". Kasumi sighed as she pulled out a large, strange looking gun and a weird eye-piece "Now now Aigis-san...You can't honestly turn your back on all this, can you?". Aigis sighed in defeat "No. I can't".

With a sad smile, Kasumi attached the strange eye piece onto one of the discs on the side of Aigis' head "This here is a targeting aid. Not to be used with your Albiero's of course. The targeting aid is to be used with this..." Aigis shyly removed her coat, revealing that she still didn't look entirely human on the outside. Teddie was very dissapointed by this revelation,to say the least. Kasumi started describing Aigis' new weapon as she was fitting it onto her shoulder "For more heavy-duty targets you'll be using this special shoulder cannon. It's codenamed the Longinus, and it can fire out it's tungsten shells with such force that it'll turn a Shadow into a fine mist from over a dozen miles away". Aigis merely frowned as she looked at the new weapon attached to her shoulder, seeing a side of herself she thought long gone.

With everyone finally stocked up on new, more advanced, equipment Kasumi lead the team back to the elevator "Thank you Kasumi, you've been a great help to us" Mitsuru said. Kasumi smiled and glanced over her shoulder when she replied "Of course Kirijo-san, any time. This, of course, won't be the only time you visit I imagine". A small frown creased across Mitsuru's face "I don't imagine so. Hopefully though, things won't take as long as they did the last time...". Teddie cleared his throat, gathering the attention of those present "Uh, this stuff is great and all but how're we supposed to carry this stuff around in public?". Kasumi gestured to a series of briefcases of varying sizes and shapes, all stamped with the Kirijo Group logo. With the exception of Kanji, who got a trunk to carry his shield around in. As the team started to leave, the Inanba gang needing to deal with their accomadations, Kasumi smiled and bid them farewell "I wish you all the best of luck. Show those Shadows just how much damage the Kirijo Group can dish out...".

* * *

><p>With their new weapons recieved, the former SEES members had decided to meet up at Club Escapade, for a little bit of reminiscing. "Aw man, this place doesn't sell alchohol anymore?" Minato moaned, looking over Escapade's drink menu "God damnit, as soon as I'm legal and alive, the stuff is yanked just out of my reach". His remarks managed to earn some laughter from the group who were busy looking for their own drinks. Minato broke the silence again by asking "So, what do you guys think of them?". Junpei grinned slightly "Well, their leader is taller then you for one thing" Minato glared in response, he was always touchy about his height. "And he killed a god. And he's got the same taste in weapons as me. Plus he's dating a celebrity. Buuuut, on the other hand you're the freakin' messiah, man...I'd say you're about even".<p>

Yukari rolled her eyes, seeing that Junpei would probably never change. Probably for the best, in her opinion,as he always managed to earn a small laugh from the group with his antics. "I trust them. It's like...I dunno, it just feels like they all want to do the right thing. Plus having a few extra hands is always a good thing". Akihiko crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat "We seem to have the same intrests at heart with the other group, so I trust them for now. Of course, if they try to stab us in the back, I'll follow up with a punch to the face". Mitsuru started laughing at that "Ah, Akihiko I've missed your brash attitude". The red-head stopped and sighed slightly "They may take some getting used too, but I'm convinced we can trust them. I'm sure they're just as uncertain about all this as we are, just give it time and we'll be working like a well-oiled machine". The group nodded, seeing that they had very little choice.

* * *

><p>The Investigation Team members had regrouped in a rather fancy Iwatodai hotel that Rise had organised. Chie let out a low whistle as she looked around the lobby "Wow, Rise...You sure know some good places". Yosuke nodded, equally impressed "Yeah...Better then the hotel we had last time we came to Iwatodai, and that's all that matters". A small shudder spread through most of the group as they recalled the seedy hotel they stayed in at Shirakawa Boulevard. Anything was a step up from that. "I've stayed here before, whenever I had a gig in Port Island. I had all our stuff brought here from the station, so that we wouldn't get held up on our way to the Kirijo Tower. All we gotta' do now is get our room keys an-" Rise was cut short when the young man behind the reception desk took notice of her "Ah, Rise-san! I was told you were going to be staying with us for a while, welcome back! I see you brought your boyfriend with you again".<p>

A toothy smirk broke across Yosuke's face at the mention of this "Ha, so you've stayed here before, eh? I guess you two would be able to tell us how sturdy the beds a-OOF!" Yosuke was cut short by Chie elbowing him in the ribs, while Rise and Souji both flushed with embarassment. Naoto, hoping to save her friends some embarassment, decided to change the subject "Rise-san, I'm curious about something...I haven't seen a single journalist since we arrived here". Rise gave a quiet sigh in relief and replied "Yeah, I made sure to keep as low a profile as possible. News of me being here will break after awhile, but hopefully we can get some peace...".

Souji looked Naoto over, rubbing his chin in thought. There was definitely something about her and the SEES leader, something he couldn't put his finger on. They were both orphans, both lost their parents in a traffic accident when they were kids, both had freakin' blue hair...Well, it was a problem to be tackled at a later date "Well, the more time we can have outside the media the better. In the meanwhile though, we should get set up in our rooms and then head out to Port Island station before the Dark Hour kicks in. We got work to do...".

* * *

><p>AN: Holy hell, that was a pain to crank out. Terribly sorry that I can't establish a proper update scedule for this. Also, I'm sorry if the whole Kirijo Tower bit when on too long, but I wanted to make it look like the Kirijo Group would actually _do something_ this time around.


	9. Clash

"Well, here we go again" Minato remarked while the others looked about uncomfortably around the empty Port Island station. It was 11:59 PM, and quickly counting down to the accursed Dark Hour "So much nicer when the whole gang's back together isn't it?". Despite the jestful nature of his comment, those gathered didn't seem to find anything funny about all this. "Huh. It's weird to be the non-moody one for a change". "Do you mind telling me why we're not visiting Tartarus, Arisato?" Mitsuru asked, her arms folded "Call it a hunch" Minato replied "Tartarus was Nyx's deal, not Erebus'. I have a feeling we won't find what we're looking for in Tartarus".

The clock struck twelve, all life dissapeared, and the universe was left suspended in time. Everything frozen except those with Persona's...And the Shadows.

"Well, let's get to work" Souji spoke up, adjusting his glasses. He gestured at Rise and Fuuka, and the two nodded in understanding. With a thought, Fuuka summoned Juno and her protective bubble enveloped both her and Rise. Following that Rise summoned the slender figure of her own Persona, Kanzeon. Kanzeon's visor slid over Rise's eyes, and for the first time in ten years she could sense the most minor of things. The two support Persona's being in such close proximity seemed to amplify the both of them, feeding of each others power and improving each other in a bizarre symbiosis.

"This is so cool...Rise Kujikawa has the same role as me!" Fuuka gushed, somewhat forgetting about the task at hand. Rise chuckled lightly and said "I take it you're a fan, Fuuka-san?". "The biggest" Fuuka replied proudly "I sent you all sorts of letters over the years, and you replied to every single one". Rise gasped slightly in surprise "Seriously? That was you? Small world! I'm really glad that I could have helped y-" Rise stopped abruptly, suddenly sensing something in the city. Something...Powerful. "W-wait, we're all here aren't we? Because I can sense other Persona-users in the city". Fuuka gasped sharply, Juno locking onto the same thing that Kanzeon had detected "N-no...I-it can't possibly...". The other jumped to attention, curious and somewhat afraid.

"Guys..." Fuuka began, barely more then whisper "It's _them_...".

* * *

><p>Deep within Port Island, a small ripple formed in space-time. It pulsed violently for a few moments, before finally spewed out Takaya, Jin and Mr. Hism. From where they were standing, a series of apartment buildings surrounded them along with a massive gathering of transmogrified coffins. "Ah yes. A fine place to build an army..." Hism remarked dryly. Takaya and Jin looked around in a confused manner, wondering just what the hell the strange masked man had been smoking. After a few moments looking around fruitlessly, Takaya asked with a weary sigh "And what exactly will this army be made of? Inanimate coffins?".<p>

Hism's masked lips curved into a crooked smile again "Ha...No. Let me ask you Takaya, did you ever know what Apathy Syndrome was?" Takaya crossed his arms over his chest "When a Shadow feeds on the mind of a human". Mr. Hism nodded again "Indeed. However, to be more specific it is when a Shadow feeds on the mind of a human and transfers that energy to Erebus. Here's another intresting tidbit Takaya. All those Apathy Syndrome victims from the past? They all maintained a link to Erebus, and their psyches can bemanipuated and corrupted by his power again. Just...Like..._This_...". raised his index and middle finger up slowly, suddenly illuminating the area in an ominous red glow.

The strange red flash dissapeared almost as soon as it appeared, however it's effects soon became visible as a large portion of the transmogrified coffins present started to glow a similar shade of red. Then, the black tar of the coffins started to rise off the catatonic humans they contained, morphing into a menagerie of deformed shadow creatures. "This is our army, Sakaki..." Mr. Hism paused for a moment, and glanced around "Ah. It would seem the Messianic duo and their disciples are on their way...Well, I will leave them in your hands Takaya. I have other business to attend to" then, Mr. Hism simply strolled into the shadows and dissapeared without a trace.

* * *

><p>The two teams had been on the move ever since Fuuka pointed out the presence of Strega. While this was obviously a big deal for the SEES crew, the Investigation Team were thoroughly confused once more. Mitsuru had indeed mentioned Strega when she first met them, but they were supposed to be dead appearantly. Then again, so was their leader so they'd have to take everything with a pinch of salt.<p>

"You sure it was them Fuuka? They died, we all saw it for real the last time!" Akihiko exclaimed. Mitsuru shook her head "Nobody ever found their bodies, Akihiko. With everything that happened in the final battle and us losing our memories, coupled with records on Takaya and Jin being virtually non-existant, nobody would have looked for them either. I imagine they dissapeared along with Tartarus after the battle with Nyx". Minato nodded "Sound theory. What I'm more concerned about is the appearant rise in power the two have had".

Rise and Fuuka both stopped suddenly, rubbing their temples in agony "Agh! Wh-what is this?" Rise exclaimed, whatever she was sensing it seemed to be ungodly powerful. "I-I don't know...There was one massive beacon of energy...Gone almost as soon as it came...And now I'm sensing a massive gathering of...Shadows?" Fuuka spoke, regaining her composure. Indeed whatever they felt was so strong that even Mitsuru and Teddie, with their weaker sensory powers, were reeling. But, they pressed on and eventually they all arrived at the aprtment blocks, the group skidded collectively to a halt upon seeing Takaya and Jin. They certainly looked different, the effects of Niall Hism's taint visible.

"You..." Takaya hissed, taking his revolver from his holster. On instinct, Naoto did the same. "Nanako, get back..." Souji whispered, and Nanako responded by doing just that. She was a brave kid, but not stupid enough to stare down the barrel of a gun. "Listen punks, I don't know who the hell you are bu-" Kanji's threat was cut short by a massive fireball exploding right infront of him "Shut it!" Jin yelled, the Evoker in his hand still smoking. Just above him his Persona, Moros, dissapeared from sight. Like Jin, his Persona had changed drastically. It looked like a giant robotic spinning top, with a variety of menacing mechanical appendages moving about.

"Uh...I think we _might_ be a little outnumbered here" Junpei remarked, noting the Shadows slowly advancing on them. All different Arcana's, no two looking alike. Minato nodded "Yeah...Souji, how do you wanna' do this?". Souji narrowed his eyes, looking all around "Your team knows how these Strega guys fight, you should be the ones to deal with them. My team'll keep these Shadows off you". Both leaders nodded, splitting their teams off to their own objectives.

Yosuke, Souji and Nanako were staging the assault on the left side. "Go! Susano-O!" Yosuke yelled out, his ultimate Persona emerging from his tarot card. He looked like a slender man in a silver spacesuit with a plume of fire atop his head and a buzzsaw spinning around his waist. Susano-o flipped out of his saw, and kicked it into the crowd of Shadows. The crowd of Shadows scattered to avoid the saw, only a few being too slow to avoidthe strike. Those who scattered however, were easy pickings for Izanagi-No-Okami and Ame-no-Uzume who rained hell on them with Megidolaon and Ziodyne spells.

On the right side it fell to Chie, Teddie and Yukiko to handle offence. Teddie's Persona, Kamui started things off by creating several massive chunks of ice with his Bufudyne spells. Chie followed up by kicking each slab at the Shadows with her unfathomably powerful Galactic Punt attack. While the Shadows were still struggling to get back up from the giant chunks of ice that smashed into them, they caught a faint glimpse of Yukiko's Persona, Amaterasu, zooming over head. They only caught a glimpse because the split second they saw her, they had already been engulfed by a series of massive fireballs.

And then, beating the Shadows away from Rise and Fuuka, was Kanji and Naoto. "Let's kick some ass Rokuten Mao!" Kanji yelled, calling forth his gigantic red mecha Persona. The mechanical figure raised it's flaming blade up, and smashed it into the ground with a mighty shockwave following after. The advancing Shadows were all knocked back into one big heap by the shockwave. The last thing those Shadows saw was the tiny wiged figure of Naoto's Yamato-Takeru whizzing all around them, before they were all sliced to bits by the fairy's Vorpal Blade attack.

There was one thing that all of the Investigation Team noticed, that once the Shadow's were defeated they dissolved into black clouds like normal and those clouds in turn moved back to the humans they came from, reforming back into coffins. Well, that was new.

The SEES team meanwhile, were having a greater degree of difficulty dealing with the reborn Takaya and Jin. The unholy power Mr. Hism had granted them had boosted their physical abilities far beyond their original limitations, so much so that evenAigis was having trouble with them. "Ziodyne" Takaya hissed,with the disfigured form of his Persona, Hypnos, materialising out of thin air and calling down a massive thunderbolt on Junpei. Luckily for Junpei, Akihiko's Persona Caeser intercepting and absorbing the lightning bolt. Hypnos, much like Moros, had undergone noticeable changes. It's skin was black as obsidian, with a series of glowing red scars marking it's flesh and multiple deformed wings suspending it in the air.

Jin, meanwhile, was busy trying to outrun Aigis' machinegun fire, along with Mitsuru's bufudyne spells, and occasionaly lobbed a few grenades at his attackers. Aigis, being such a powerful machine, was able to dodge Jin's projectiles with minimal difficulty while also taking care of any heading Mitsuru's way. Jin was so focused on Aigis however, that he didn't even see Junpei positioning himself up ahead while Akihiko stayed to fend off Takaya. "Heh, batter up Trismegistus- Gigantic Fist!". With the pull of his evoker's trigger, the multi-winged mechanical Trismegistus appeared. Jin saw the incoming attack all too late, as Trismegistus collided with him which created a small explosion of purple energy as the attack connected.

Jin was sent flying back, tumbling a few times due to his momentum. Before he could even stand up again, he heard the clicking of Aigis' guns above him "Don't. Even. Breath".

Takaya was busy fending off attacks from Koromaru, Ken, Minato, Yukari and Akihiko and even then he seemed to be holding his own quite well. He shot Yukari's arrows down mid-flight, avoided Minato's sword strikes, completely bltized Ken when he got too close and was keeping pace with Akihiko. But, Akihiko did manage to get in one lucky punch which not only sent Takaya flying back but also burst Takaya's nose like a tomatoe. Takaya pried himself from the crater his superpowered body had formed, his eyes flashing darkly.

Then, Takaya moved faster then human eyes could percieve, nailing Akihiko in the gut with one superhuman punch. Akihiko gagged violently, the wind knocked out of him by the impact. He was fairly certain something was broken there. Either way, the pain was horrific. Akihiko slumped down, clutching his gut in agony and trying in vain to find his evoker. Above him, he heard the cocking of Takaya's revolver and the shocked gasps of his teammates.

Was this how he was going to die? Being gunned down by this nihlistic monster, just like Shinji was? Then Takaya pulled the trigger, and all Akihiko heard was a sonic boom.

* * *

><p>He had no idea how long he had been here, time moved so strangely when you were hopelessly insane. The doctors wouldn't tell him anything, but they didn't seem all that intrested in him. From what he had overheard, he was a lost cause. Just sitting there, borderline comatose. That was fine. He didn't need them, he was a badass celebrity. At least, in his own mind he was.<p>

There was one thing he noticed though, and it was something that had started happening very recently, around midnight the power failed and all became silent. Except this night, when a strange voice started whispering to him.

_"Mitsuo Kubo, such a brave strong hero. Confined here by wicked people who were jealous of what you accomplished...But I can offer you freedom. Vengeance. Are you intrested?" _

Mitsup blinked his inky black eyes a few times, this strange voice snapping him from his trance. Finally, something that understood what he was capable of. "Yes" Mitsuo spoke, his voice cracking as he hadn't spoke in a long time. _"Good" _the voice whispered, a dark figure materialising before him. A tall, well-dressed man wearing a golden frowning mask. "I am Mister Niall Hism, and I am the key to your freedom" Hism raised his fingers up crackling with black and red energy and touched Mitsuo's forehead. On contact, Mitsuo's mind reawakened with new grand power.

**"Thou art I, and I am thou. I am Nidhoggr, eater of the world tree"**

* * *

><p>AN: Whew! Sorry about the wait, but some things came up and I wound up getting distracted. And then TF2 became free to play, so...Uh yeah, enjoy.


	10. Room Of The Soul

Akihiko slowly opened one eye, amazed to see he wasn't dead. Takaya was equally surprised to see his bullet had been intercepted, but his surprise quickly turned to fear when he saw just what had intercepted the shot. There was Aigis, standing between the two with Takaya's bullet being crushed in her fist. Steam was billowing from the glowing red headphones that covered her ears, showing she had gone into Orgia Mode.

It was incredible, as soon as Aigis spotted Takaya looming over her downed ally she pumped herself up with Orgia mode. The world moved in slow motion by comparison to her then, she managed to catch the bullet the split second it came out of the barrel.

Aigis smirked when she noted Takaya's look of terror, savouring it for a split second before she launched Takaya into the air with an enhanced punch. Seeing that he was free from the robot's presence Jin scrambled to his feet. "Takaya! Don't worry, I'm coming to he-" Jin was cut short by two of Yukari's electrified arrows nailing him in the shoulders, leaving him a convulsing, electrified mess on the ground. "Yeah, that's not happening" Yukari remarked wryly, nocking another arrow.

Aigis was having a hell of a time smashing Takaya around. *ZOOM* *PUNCH* *ZOOM* *PUNCH* *ZOOM* *PUNCH* it went on like this for a while. Aigis was laughing her head off in-between hits, as this was the most fun she had ever had. Eventually she started playing a game of volleyball with herself, using Takaya as the volleyball in question. But, all good things came to an end and, Aigis knew full well that Orgia Mode only lasted a short while and very soon she'd be left overheated. So she decided to take some initiative to end this quickly "MINATO-SAN! TAKE HIM OUT!". Minato nodded, seeing Takaya was recovering from Aigis' brutal assault.

"Souji, you ever hear of a fusion raid?" Minato asked, summoning the silver form of Messiah. Souji raised an eyebrow, jogging over to the other leader "A what now?". Minato grinned slyly "Both our Persona's attacking at the same time. Megidolaon, since we both have it". Souji nodded in understanding, summoning the pale sharply-dressed form of Izanagi-No-Okami. The two ultimate Personae raised their mechanical hands upward, forming a massive ball of purple Almighty magic between them.

As Takaya was falling back to Earth, he caught a glimpse of the giant ball of energy being launched toward him. Takaya seethed with rage, summong Hypnos and pouring his energy into a Ziodyne spell. While the massive lightning bolt managed to slow the fusion spell slightly, it was ultimately a futile effort as the giant ball of energy still managed to engulf him with a powerful explosion. The blast was so damn powerful that the green night sky was briefly illuminated purple by the blast. Amazingly though, Takaya hadn't been killed by this. His smoking, battered body fell from the sky and landed with a powerful thud, well and truly unconscious from this.

"That was pretty easy, all things considered..." Junpei spoke, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, for our arch-enemies we always take 'em down pretty quickly...So what do we do with 'em?". Akihiko forced himself up, his ears still ringing slightly "Lock them up and interrogate them? I'm pretty sure Kasumi-san has something that can hold them". Yosuke and several other of the Investigation Team members regrouped around the defeated Strega members "Yes, that sounds good. We couldn't just kill them..." Yukiko spoke. Yosuke and Kanji both looked down at their feet, remembering that they very neatly jumped off the slippery slope in Namatame's hospital room.

"Wait!" Fuuka called out, gathering the attention of the others "I sense the same malicious energy from earlier!". Almost as soon as Fuuka said this, Takaya and Jin were engulfed in a sphere of black and red energy, and when the sphere vanished so too did Takaya and Jin. "Well, that's certainly problematic" Naoto commented in an annoyed tone. "And so is all this" Mitsuru replied, gesturing to all the destruction their battle had caused. Craters, scorch marks, bullet holes...Things sure were alot easier when they didn't have to worry about the destruction they could cause.

"I'm on it" Minato called over his shouler, raising his hands up. He grunted and strained, his eyes and hands glowing white. First, the bullets and the shell cases dispensed by Aigis and Takaya rose from the ground before being totally disintegrated. Following that the various craters that had been formed during the battle began to fill up with fresh concrete, which soon fully repaired the streets. And finally, the ash and smoke produced by the various spells were lifted from the ground and scattered to the winds. Minato slumped down, taking a deep breath "Man...Having to focus on so many tiny molecules hurts man...". Mitsuru placed a well-groomed hand on the field-leaders shoulder "Don't overexert yourself Minato, last thing we want is you going on us again".

Mitsuru let out a small yawn "I apologise, but I think we'll have to leave a debriefing 'til tomorrow evening. We'll all meet up at the Kirijo Tower at 8:00 PM tomorrow, so until then goodnight". The rest of the group reluctantly agreed, it had been so long since they did this that they became fatigued easier. Thus, they split up for the night.

* * *

><p>When Kanji awoke, he stretched himself slowly and forced himself out of the hotel bed "Shit...How the hell'd those SEES guys do that midnight stuff so often?". Hearing no response from his girlfriend, Kanji looked around only now realising her petit frame wasn't asleep beside me "Eh? Naoto?". While Kanji was looking around, the bathroom door opened, and Naoto stepped out fully dressed in her normal attire "Were you saying something Kanji?". Kanji had almost forgot how Naoto loved to get up early, in direct contrast for his desire to sleep late. It was funny how even fighting Shadows in the dead of night didn't slow Naoto's morning routine in the slightest.<p>

"Agh. Never mind..." Kanji replied, forcing himself up out of bed. Naoto's face turned red "Er...Kanji? Pants?" Kanji stopped and raised an eyebrow "Wha-? Pfft, 'snot a big deal. Nothing you haven't seen already, right?". Naoto's face only seemed to go redder "And what if someone else comes in and sees your 'morning glory'?". Kanji grunted "Fine" and made his way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. "So what're we doin' today?" Kanji asked, his voice barely audible over the sound of running water. "Rise-san is organising a get-together of the girls from both groups, so I'm afraid you and the other men will have to make your own plans". Naoto pretended not to hear Kanji's low groan of dissapointment from her side of the door.

* * *

><p>The men had decided that the only real place to have a manly meeting was at a manly eatery, like Hagakure. Well, that's how Teddie put it when he made the suggestion. But, seeing as it was the best suggestion they had recieved the guys just went along with it, and fairly quickly they were all seated around the counter. Souji had arrived late, and Yosuke was still on the way. "Yosuke said something about grabbing some coffee..." Souji said, hoisting himself onto the counter. Seemed like only yesterday he had come here on that school trip.<p>

"Can you believe this?" Teddie whined, only attracting the attention of the SEES men. The Investigation Team were quite used to his theatrics at this point. "The girls ditched us! This suuuuucks, it's a total sandwich fest!". "Sausage fest" Souji corrected, not even looking up from his freshly arrived Hagakure-bowl.

"Calm down Teddie. Not even Junpei is whining about it, and he's the guy who once had the 'brilliant' idea to pick up girls on the beach" Akihiko chimed in, prodding at his noodles. Junpei twitched slightly in annoyance "Hey, screw you Akihiko-san! I actually have a girlfriend, which is more than I can say for you!". The two seemed to jump from their stools simultaenously, and promptly started butting heads "What'd you just say?" "Yeah, you heard me! All those fangirls over the years, and you're still single!" "Pfft, I'd rather be single than dating an ex-psycho!".

Ken laughed nervously moving in between the two and pushing them apart "Ahaha, okay you two let's not kill each other here...". Minato just burst out laughing "Ah man...I missed you idiots...". Before Akihiko and Junpei could direct their anger toward Minato, Souji cut in "Uh, there's something I wanted to run by you Minato...".

Minato turned to Souji with an eyebrow raised. Teddie nudged Kanji with his elbow and whispered "Sensei's got an idea! This is gonna' be so cool!". Souji rubbed his glasses with his lappel, a nervous habit, and started speaking "Well, I might be off base with this theory but, I have to ask...Minato, have you ever had any sib- ". Souji was cut short by Yosuke suddenly bursting into Hagakure, panting for breath with a newspaper crumpled up in one hand. "Guys" Yosuke wheezed "You're not gonna' believe this...I was buying coffee at a convenience, and I saw this newspaper on sale near the counter, and- and, damnit just look!".

Yosuke flipped through several of the paper's pages, smoothing them out as he went through them. Finally, he found the article he was looking for, which shocked the other Investigation Team members. The headline read:

**Inaba's Copy-Cat Killer; On The Loose!**

* * *

><p>The female Persona users had decided they'd be meeting up at Changall Cafe at Paulownia Mall. None of them had stopped for a moment to pick up a newspapers, and as such the news of Mitsuo Kubo's escape hadn't reached their ears.<p>

"Ha, and so there's Yosuke clutching his nuts and he squeeks out 'I think mine's broken too, Critical hit to the nads'!" Chie said, struggling to breath from laughing so hard, as were the others gathered at the table. "Ha, Yosuke-kun always had the worst luck, maybe it was karma for his jerkass moments?" Rise mused, taking a drink of her coffee. After awhile, the laughter stopped and Mitsuru chimed in "Awhile back, we all thought Arisato was one of a kind. A paragon who performed miracles and befriended almost everyone he met. Hard to believe Seta has the same qualities".

Yukiko sighed slightly, reminiscing "Yeah, I think we all loved Souji. Though Teddie's probably the only guy that would admit to it. Kanji kind've saw him as an older brother mentor figure, and despite all his homophobic remarks Yosuke was borderline lusting after him". A small burst of laughter went through the group "Guess he just wasn't fast enough" Rise added, twirling a pigtail around her finger. Yukari smiled slightly "Wasn't quite that way with Minato. Alot of people liked him, and he even had a little fanclub at one point. But, Junpei borderline hated him. He got on well enough with Akihiko, Ken and Shinji but they were far from 'best friends' like Souji was with your team".

Fuuka nodded "Yeah, but still they're quite a pair. I wonder what it is that lets them get on with people so well?". Aigis spoke up next "I'd say it's the Wild Card". The girls from the Investigation Team were curious "Er, what's the Wild Card?" Yukiko asked. "The thing that allows them to switch Personae. Back when I had it, I found that everytime I changed my Arcana I could understand and relate to anyone with the same Arcana. Shame I lost it when my systems were fried". "Huh" Chie said, her eyes looking up toward the ceiling "Souji got empowered by a goddess, Minato had the spirit of death inside him, Aigis inherited it" Chie listed the examples off on her fingers

"From old research on the matter, the Kirijo Group concluded that it takes exceptional circumstancesto become a true Wild Card. Only a tiny percentage of test subjects had a potential Wild Card ability, but nothing we did could activate those abilities" Mitsuru replied, polishing off her coffee. Before the conversation on the matter could continue further, Rise's phone rang, which she promptly answered "Hey Senpai, what's up?" Rise asked, Souji was evidently her caller.

Rise sighed "Aw come ooon, what else kind of pet name can I give you?" awaiting a response, Rise raised an eyebrow "Okay, fine I'll take this seriously...Er, wait what? Did I just hear that right?". Rise reclined in her seat, her expression changing from playful to serious "No way that can't be...It's just...But he never accepted his Shadow!..Okay...Yeah. Yeah, alright Souji. I'll tell the others and we can all discuss it at the Kirijo Tower this evening. Love ya'. Bye".

Rise put her phone back in her jean pocket, and there was an awkward silence as she tried to find the right words "Um...Well, this is a difficult thing to say. Mitsuo Kubo has escaped".

* * *

><p>"So, run this by me again" Kasumi began "The real killer back in Inaba was Adachi who was being controlled by Izanami. Adachi was in turn manipulating Taro Namatame into kidnapping people. But Kubo was just some sad weird kid who murdered some asshole school teacher because he wanted to be famous?". Kasumi looked over the gathered Persona-users, who had arrived for the evening meeting on schedule.<p>

"That's the gist of it" Souji replied, a look of worry marking his face. "Yeah, he was a messed up bastard" Yosuke added "To be honest, we all kind of forgot about him when it turned out he wasn't the real killer" Yosuke continued "But him showing up the same time as your old enemies? That can't be a coincidence. That article I read said that "His cell was wide open, and several interns and patients had been brutally killed. And only a Persona-user could operate in the Dark Hour, cause so much carnage and not be caught".

"That's something I don't get" Kasumi replied "From your stories, somebody needs to accept their Shadow in order to use their Persona. But from what you said, this Kubo kid didn't accept his Shadow. So how could he have a Persona?". Souji folded his arms "Well, a being of sufficient power can jumpstart somebody's Persona without that person needing to face their Shadow. Izanami did it to me, I gave Nanako her Persona the same way. Somebody must've done the same for him".

"Most likely the same person who brought Takaya and Jin back, and teleported them away last night" Minato added, piecing the information together with Souji. "Yeah but, who and why?" Junpei asked. "Erebus?" Fuuka asked, to which the whole group seemed to dwell on.

"It does seem likely..." Mitsuru added, her eyes narrowed while focusing on the ground. Akihiko nodded "Yeah,that thing was crazy powerful when we fought it. If it could raise the dead, or bestow power onto others, I wouldn't be all that surprised".Minato rubbed his chin in thought "Well, there's one place I know we can get our answers from. Wouldn't you agree Souji?". Souji chuckled slightly "Velvet Room?" he asked, to which Minato merely smirked in confirmation.

"We'll be back in a minute or two" Souji said, he and Minato leaving the Armory at the same time, much to the confusion of several people present

* * *

><p>"So where's the Velvet Room entrance in this city?" Souji asked, Minato walking about two steps with his hands jammed into his pockets as usual. "There's two around here. One in Tartarus, and the one in Paulownia Mall we're heading to now". Souji nodded, seeing the well lit building coming up on the horizon.<p>

The two were busy contemplating just what the Velvet Room would be like now, as it appearantly changed depending on the number of guests and their personalities. Or something like that, Minato didn't know how his personality was an elevator and Souji wondered just how the fuck his personality was supposed to be a limo.

But, that was irrelevant. Minato led Souji into the mall, several shops closing up for the night, going into a small little alcove under the Mandragora Karaoke Bar. There, the two laid eyes on the familiar etheral blue door just floating there at the back of the passage. The two leaders looked at each other and nodded, and Souji took the liberty of opening the door for them. And then, as the door opened they were engulfed by a bright light.

* * *

><p>When the white flash finally dissapeared, both Souji and Minato found themselves standing on some sort of balcony. From what they could see, Igor was sitting hunched over with his back to the two enthralled by the spectacle below the balcony. Elizabeth and Margaret were stranding on opposite sides of the long-nosed man, each holding a different Compendium.<p>

Minato, curious as to what Igor was looking at, took a few steps forward and was surprised to see the new Velvet Room in all its beauty. It seemed to be a giant Opera house, just about everything coloured a deep blue. Looking down at the illuminated stage below, he saw an elegant dark-haired woman singing beautifully, accompanied by a blind man playing the piano with surprising skill for a man without the use of his eyes. Come to think of it, the music the two were playing sounded _alot _like the music Minato and Souji normally heard when they entered the Velvet Room...

The two were snapped from their thoughts by Igor's whimsical voice "Welcome back...". He glanced back at the two with a creepy toothy grin "It's so nice to see you once again...".

* * *

><p>AN: There we are, back in the velvet-lined comfort of the Velvet Room. The next chapter, we can expect what's best known from Igor: Creepiness and exposition!


	11. Machinations Of Apathy

"Beautiful music, isn't it?" Igor asked, gesturing at the stage below "The singer covering her ears is Belladonna, and her blindfolded companion is Nameless. And their magnificent duet is known as Aria Of The Soul. I'm sure you've heard it before". Souji coughed into his fist, taking a seat in the balcony "Yeah, it's a beautiful tune Igor-". "Beyond beautiful" Minato cut in, having a finer appreciation of music. "But we came here to talk".

Igor clasped his gloved hands together, as was common for him, and flashed the same toothy grin "Of course. I don't think either of you have come here just for the sake of visiting". Minato scratched his neck awkwardly "Well...Er...That's...".

Igor chuckled slightly in response "I'm merely joking. I felt it would be a good way to break the ice after such a lengthy time apart". Souji rolled his eyes, unamused "We're here to ask you about Erebus". Igor nodded "Indeed, I suspected as much. He is the reason the world has been thrown into such turmoil as of late". "The actions of your team, Souji, led to unforseen consequences" Margaret said, looking over at her grey-haired friend "By lifting the fog that shrouded the hearts of mankind, a great deal of humanity lost their apathy and desire for death. Erebus was severely weakened as a result, so now this is his last ditch effort to bring about the fall".

"Much like Nyx" Elizabeth began, looking over at Minato "Erebus is acting through an avatar. Originally nameless, as it saw no purpose in names, it calls itself Mr. Niall Hism now". Minato frowned "Nihlism? Really? Little on the nose, don't you think?". Elizabeth held back her laughter and continued "He was able to revive and empower Takaya and Jin, and most recently freed and empowered the murderer known as Mitsuo Kubo".

Souji grimaced, a person as unstable as Kubo should _not_ have something as powerful as a Persona. It was like giving a wild animal god-like power. Adachi was a prime example of somebody abusing such a diverse power. "So, his plan is to bring the Fall, I get that. But how's he going to do it?" Minato asked, leaning back in his seat.

"By empowering Erebus" Igor replied "Hism will start giving Apathy Syndrome to anyone susceptible, mainly past victims of the disease, to empower Erebus again. Takaya, Jin and now Mitsuo will serve as his acolytes and do everything in their power to keep you from stopping the Fall again". Minato gritted his teeth "No. No way in Hell are they going to stop us...I died once to prevent the Fall, and I came back to stop it again. I'll be damned if some Nietzche-wannabe assholes are going to undo everything I sacrificed for, all the time I lost...". Minato cast his gaze down to the floor, thinking back on the bonds he formed in high school. People the would never know why he died, or that he was alive again.

Igor gave a heartfelt smile in response "I've always admired the resolve of you Wild Cards. You two in particular have gone above and beyond in your journeys, pushed the boundries of reality, gone beyond the impossible! Both of you have formed unbreakable bonds, overcome great tragedy and stood up to primordial deities with unblinking eyes. I have no doubt you will do so again together. In any event though..." Igor trailed off, gesturing at Elizabeth and Margret. The silver-haired sisters nodded at the same time, each raising the Persona Compendiums up.

"Once again, I welcome you Minato Arisato and you Souji Seta, as guests in the Velvet Room. You will have access to the full range of our services again, as well as a new service I will open to you when the time comes Souji". Souji raised an eyebrow at this "Wait, what was that? And why can't Minato do it?".

Igor gave his signature whimsical chuckle in response "In time, I will offer a new service to you when you are prepared. Don't worry, you will not have to wait too long". The long-nosed man looked over at Minato "As to why Minato cannot undertake this service...It is a long arduous, that will result in a massive increase in power. Due to Minato's posession of the Universe Arcana, his power would not undergo any change".

Minato opened his mouth, as if ready to make some sort of objection, but in the end he just dropped his hand and sighed "True 'nuff I suppose". Souji just rubbed his chin in thought "If this service you're offering is so useful, why can't I just get it now?". Igor drummed his fingers together, expecting that question "The new service is a sort of training. You need to experience the power you will be going up against first hand, just so you understand why you need to endure that training at all costs. You need to know that failure is not an option".

Souji was confused, as one would be, but he learned from experience that quizzing Igor never got you anywhere. Best to just go along with it for the time being. With the meeting dealt with, Minato and Souji excused themselves and went back into the real world.

* * *

><p>"Hey..." Souji began, as he and Minato walked down the illuminated Port Island streets "What do you suppose Igor meant back there?". Minato just shrugged in response "Who knows? Almost everything that Igor says is some cryptic smoke and mirrors bullshit. 'Persona! Persona! Persona! Social Links! Social Links! Social Links!'". Minato waved his arms around in an overly dramatic fashion, pretending to be a spastic Igor.<p>

Souji started laughing in response, earning strange looks from bystanders. Once he was done, Minato looked somewhat more serious "Hey, earlier at Hagakure you wanted to say something to me. What was it?". Souji frowned, still somewhat hesitant to ask a question that might come across as insensitive.

"Did you...Did you ever have a sister?". Minato's expression visibly darkened, and he stopped walking completely. Souji seemed to have struck a nerve, and was all but ready to run until Minato started talking "I did. Hamuko. She was only an toddler when she died in the car crash. I don't see how that matters". He crossed his arms as he said this, his voice quite quiet. Souji scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably "It's just that...Well, are you sure? Because you and Na-".

Minato cut him short "Yes, I'm sure. I was told repeatedly that I was the sole survivor of that accident. You think me and that Naoto girl are related just because of the blue-hair? It's a rarity, sure, but it's only a coincidence in this case..." Minato spoke with great haste and little emotion, clearly he wanted to get off the subject as quickly as possible. Souji frowned, not willing to give up on his hunch so easily "It's not just the hair. It's the similar facial structure you both have, the similar attitudes you've both shown. On top of all that though, there's the fact that her parents died in a car crash when she was an toddler too".

That last line caught Minato's attention "What?". Souji nodded "Yeah...What year was your sister born?" Souji asked, causing Minato to think "Let's see...I was born in '92...So, Hamuko was born in '95". Souji put a hand under his chin "Same as Naoto".Minato's eyes widened further "No way...Who the hell took her in? Why the hell would they change her name? Why would they lie to both of us?".

Souji frowned, knowing he couldn't give Minato all the answers he wanted "Her grandfather took her in. As for the other questions, I...I really couldn't tell you. Best thing you can do is talk this through with Naoto, figure everything out". Minato bit his lower lip, and his clenched fists trembled for a few moments. In the end, he just sighed and relaxed himself "Right. Yeah. Listen, thanks for telling me all this. Even if you're wrong, it's something I'll need to look into. I owe you one". Souji smiled, and placed a hand on Minato's shoulder "It's no trouble. We Wild Cards gotta' look out for each other, right?". Then, time seemed to stop for the both of them.

***CRASH* **

**Thou art I...And I am thou...**

**Thou hast established a new bond...**

**It brings thee closer to the truth...**

**Thou shalt have our blessing when creating Personas of the World Arcana**

The two blinked in surprise a few times once the flow of time returned to normal, with Souji breaking the silence by asking "Uh...Did you just get that too?". Minato was equally surprised "I-I think so. Geez, feels weird when somebody else knows about it...".

* * *

><p>Back in the day, Strega had a whole host of little foxholes scattered all around Port Island. Secluded areas that only they knew about, which contained plenty of supplies. Perfect places to go if the heat was ever turned up too high on them. And now, even ten years later, Jin had picked the locations so carefully that they were still kept a secret. Such as the one hidden near the Iwatodai train station Jin and Takaya were hiding out in now.<p>

"And why did you think it was a good idea to bring this lout in on things?" Takaya asked, gesturing at Mitsuo who was busy examining the dried-on bloodstains on his skin. Mr. Hism clasped his gloved hands behind his back, also looking at his newest Acolyte "Strength in numbers. This one has seen Izanagi's brood firsthand, unlike you two. And as the one known as Adachi was penitent in the end, he showed his weakness. But Mitsuo...".

Mr. Hism trailed off, watching Mtuso sniff at and lick off some of the dried-on blood on his fingertips "Oh, he will prove himself as being most merciless". Takaya rolled his eyes "That's not what I meant. I wonder why you thought a deformed mental defective would be a good choice for a follower".

slowly turned his head toward Takaya, the eyeholes of his mask beginning to glow gold "You. Do. Not. Question. Me" 's normal icey voice took on a great deal more menace, and Takaya visibly flinched. Then Takaya felt white hot jets of pain pulsing through his limbs, causing him to writhe on the ground in agony. "You are a puppet to me Takaya, my plaything! Consider yourself fortunate I have left you with the delusion of self-control!". The pain Takaya was feeling now was beyond measure. Even the beatdown from Aigis last night seemed like little more than a papercut by comparison. It felt as though all his bones were being slowly broken, as if his organs were melting, as if his brain was being flayed...

And then it abruptly ended "Remember that pain Takaya. Question me again, and I will make it all too real". Takaya nodded slowly, forcing himself back onto his feet while also checking to see that he hadn't sustained any actual injuries. Jin had stood back, had wanted to help his closest friend of course, but the terror of undergoing the same pain was a pretty good deterrent. Mitsuo was seemingly oblivious to everything the had happened, more intrested in adjusting the hospital scrubs he was dressed in.

"Okay..." Takaya managed to wheeze out "Alright. I'm sorry. What's your plan? We were almost destroyed when we fought them directly last night". The lips on his mask curved into a smile "Indeed. Which is why fighting them all directly is not what we will do". Jin narrowed his eyes "What do you mean?". Mr. Hism, still smiling, clasped his gloved hands behind his back "A simple, yet effective concept. Divide and conquer".

* * *

><p>"There you guys are!" Yukari yelled, seeing Minato and Souji re-enter the Kirijo Tower "You have any idea how rude it is to skip out on a meeting like that?". "Take note blondie" Junpei whispered to Yosuke "When Yuka-Tan gets pissed like that, it's best to just agree with her. Or run for the hills as fast as you can, either works". Yosuke snorted "Dude, I've survived Chie. And she kicks things into space. I think I can handle Yukari-san". Yosuke let out a small yelp of pain, feeling Chie pinch his earlobe "It's rude to talk about people behind their backs Yosuke" Chie grunted, which compelled Yosuke to blurt out a hushed apology.<p>

"Sorry Yukari-san" Minato replied, his voice oozing sincerity. He could be a pretty convincing actor, too bad his teammates could see through his ruse. "We had to go get information as quick as we could, and me and Souji are the only ones who can enter the Velvet Room, so...". Yukari sighed in exasperation "I know. Still would've been nice if you guys gave a little warning beforehand...". Minato smiled, snaking an arm around her shoulder "Sorry honey, but I _am_ a manerless ne'er-do-well ya know".

Souji coughed slightly, looking over at his team "Oh yeah, the Velvet Room is-" Teddie cut him short "Aigis already told us Sensei! You got your Personas from there, right? How come you never told us about it?". Souji quirked a brow "Uh, where did you guys think I got them before you found out?". Yukiko shrugged "Well we thought you, ya know, just made them up. Like a schizophrenic...". Souji wasn't sure if he was surprised or offended "You guys thought I was a schitzo, and you let me lead you?". Kanji scratched his face "Well...You were the best suited for the job. Nice to know you're not actually crazy though, Souji". Souji's jaw was practically hanging open "I-I don't...You guys th-...Ah, forget it, it doesn't matter. Guess that's what I get for being secretive...We did have information to give you guys".

And so Minato and Souji spent the next few minutes giving their comrades an abridged version of what Igor had told them, telling them all about Erebus and his avatar. Touching on the subject of Apathy Syndrome and mentioning some sort of training that Souji would have to go through at some point in the future.

"Well that's a bummer" Junpei added once the two had finished their story "He basically said you have to get your ass kicked in order to get that training. What a dick...". Souji rubbed his forehead "Believe me, I know. I suppose it balances out all the things he's helped me with in the past". Kasumi coughed into her fist "Much as I'd like to hear you angst, that's not what this meeting was called for. After what you just told, we know for sure what we're up against and what they're planning. So right now our efforts now should be focused o-"

Kasumi was cut short by time stopping, and all mortals turning into coffins.

"Huh. Guess we know she's not a Persona-user" Fuuka said, causing Minato to mutter "Thank you once again for you unparalleled insight, Captain Obvious". Akihiko looked over at the two mission control maidens "Fuuka, Rise, either of you sense anything?".

A powerful buzz rang through both of their minds, both of them sensing several bursts of the same malicious energy from the other night, along with the familiar Personae of Takaya and Jin. The intresting thing was, they all seemed to be coming from different areas in the city. "I'm...Sensing a large cluster of Shadows around the Port Island station..." Fuuka began "I recognise Takaya's energy, he's due west from Paulownia Mall. As for Jin he's...At a construction site near Gekkokaun High" Rise continued. "Along with that, there's a third Persona-user down at the Port Island docks". "Must be Mitsuo" Yosuke concluded, doubtful it could be anyone else. "And...Somthing else" Fuuka said "A pretty big power source, moving through the Port Island residential area. Most likely their leader".

"Alright, how're we going to divide the teams on this one?" Souji asked, looking over at the other leader. "You do know it's probably a trap? Couldn't take us all on at once, so they're going to try split us apart?". Souji smirked "That's part of the fun, isn't it?".

After several moments of hushed debate, the two leaders had decided on the proper arrangement with Minato barking the order "Alright, here's how it's going to go down. Akihiko, Junpei and Kanji, you're going off to Port Island station. Naoto, Nanako and Yosuke you can take care of Kubo. Yukari, Aigis you can handle a toady like Jin together. Mitsuru, Chie, Yukiko we're leaving Takaya to you. Teddie, you're coming with me and Souji after the big fish. Ken, Koro-chan you're hanging back here to make sure nobody jumps Rise or Fuuka".

Ken groaned, brushing several brown locks from his face "I think there's only one word for that assignment boy" Ken mumbled to Koromaru "Lame".

Minato had wanted desperately to talk to Naoto about all this. He wasn't sure what he was more afraid of, looking like a fool if he was wrong or uncovering a horrible truth if he was right. But, that would have to wait for another time in another place. There was work to be done.

"Alright, lets show these assholes who's sheriff in this town".

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><p>AN: Sorry for those of you who were waiting on this, holiday got in the way. Anyway, keep an eye out for the next chapter which will be full of _**ACTION!**_


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